Huge Square Enix losses were a sign I should move on - Yoichi Wada

- former Square Enix president Yoichi Wada explains why he is stepping down from his management role at the Japanese publisher. The company is estimating an "extraordinary loss" of 13.0 billion yen ($137.9 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, due in part to weak console game sales. As part of a Square Enix briefing session, Wada said, "Chairman of the Board Wada cannot allow President Wada to continue after plunging the company into a huge loss." "I, personally, would have liked to wait and hand over the firm when it is at its best," he added, noting that after giving it much thought, "I have judged that it would be best to support the company in other ways as I hand over my roles and responsibilities. For this reason, I have decided to step down." Wada has passed the presidential role on to Yosuke Matsuda, who said that he intended "to perform a fundamental and zero-base review of all businesses, operations, and assets across the group." "In the light of extreme changes in the industry, we must dig in deep on what really works and what doesn't, invest a good amount of resources in areas we decide to strengthen, and thoroughly constrain the areas that we don't see working for us," he added. The company plans to reveal these plans as part of its full fiscal year results next month. As for Wada, he will no longer be a staff member of Square Enix Holdings, but instead will look for other ways to support the company, "including exploiting new businesses, and to yield sound results and performances."