According to Notice of Change in Representative Directors memo released today by Square Enix, President Yoichi Wada will be stepping down from his position within Square Enix. This announcement comes after Square Enix revised its net income loss from ¥3.5 ($37.163M US) billion to ¥13 billion (138.034M US), following a decline in Western sales.
The revision is said to be “due to slow sales of major console game titles in North American and European markets”. I have to wonder if the recent lack of carry through on games such as Final Fantasy Versus XIII (now renamed Final Fantasy XV and expected to be released on the PS4…finally) and Final Fantasy X HD (Finally arriving after being announced over a year ago). It seems that recently, Square has hyped some very fantastic games, only to hold off on the release for years.
Although this it is not known how Mr. Wada’s resignation will affect Nintendo, or if it will at all, he is expected to step down in June of this year. Yosuke Matsuda will then assume the player one controller within the company. My hope is that Mr. Matsuda will see the success of Monster Hunter Wii U, and 3DS, and give us Square Enix fans some more love over here at Nintendo. Maybe even bring Final Fantasy home, hint hint (A fanboy can dream can’t he?).
Could it be that after Wada leaves, we could see the long anticipated Final Fantasy VII remake? I would love to see the remake, but Wada once said that until they release an installment that is “higher quality” (I am guessing he means story-wise) that a FFVII remake would “irreparably damage the franchise”. In my opinion, FFX has already topped VII. Not to mention that it seems as though Square needs the bump in sales that FFVII remake would provide. My suggestion? Complete the FFVII HD remake, and release it on Wii U. It will bring the series back to its original home, increase Wii U sales, and make many fans happy with Square Enix once again.
Since April 2000 Wada has been with Square Enix, seeing the acquisition of both Taito and Eidos. Do you think he has served his position well, or do you think his stepping down, and the summoning of Matsuda’s , will provide the extra boost they need to rise to victory again?