Square Enix Talks Releases, Western Expansion, FFXII

In an interview reported by the Bloomberg Japan financial news website, Square Enix chairman Yoichi Wada has revealed that the company plans to release one high-profile title every month for the 2005 fiscal year, which starts in April, in an attempt to spread out the major titles his company produces in a more even fashion. Wada also spoke about the company’s intentions to increase market share in the West, particularly Europe, which currently accounts for only 30 percent of current business. The company plans to increase this to at least 50 percent, with acquisitions of Western publishers and developers a possibility. No hint was given as to which, or even which type of companies, Square Enix would be looking at – but the implication was that an attempt would be made to create more localized content for specific territories. Wada also indicated that highly anticipated role-playing game Final Fantasy XII would not be released this spring as previously planned, but gave no revised release date. The latest in the Final Fantasy series has experienced a number of delays, and had originally hoped to ship in the 2003 fiscal year, which ended on March 31st, 2004.