Square Enix considering stakes in competing developers
Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Tokyo, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada has said that his company may decide to get cozy with rival developers. "Economies of scale and breadth of scope are getting important," he said. "It may be a business alliance or it may be us taking a stake in others, but we need to go beyond traditional Square Enix." In moving "beyond" the company's traditional situation, Wada also hopes to move farther beyond the borders of Japan and boost international games sales. Out of total software revenue, overseas sales currently comprise 50 percent -- and he'd rather have them at 80 percent.
By forming alliances with other companies and better heeding the desires of the international market (MOAR GUNZ PLZ), Square Enix would be better equipped to deal with steep competition, "not only from Japanese videogame companies but from game companies worldwide." Square Enix's The Last Remnant, which is planned for simultaneous release in the East and West, may be the first step towards that goal.
