Square Enix 'Might Decide To Acquire Another Company'

Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos may just be the beginning of a global expansion for the company, says president Yoichi Wada. The clear win in the £84 million ($123m) Eidos purchase for the Japanese Final Fantasy house is a foothold in the Western market. Now Wada tells the Financial Times that the company might also use the acquisition as a stepping-off point for further growth. "The combination of Eidos and Square Enix gives us a good platform from which to expand," says Wada. "In that process, we might decide to acquire another company." Wada also explains why he feels it's essential to the survival of the Japanese games biz to expand further outside the country's borders. "In the last five to 10 years, the Japanese games industry has become a closed environment, with no new people coming in, no new ideas, almost xenophobic," he tells the FT. "It is now slightly behind western counterparts. The lag with the U.S. is very clear." "The U.S. games industry was not good in the past, but it has now attracted people from the computer [industry] and from Hollywood, which has led to strong growth."