Earlier this week, Square Enix began undergoing a reorganization that has seen countless staff shuffled around. The restructuring is a bid from Square Enix’s new president, Takashi Kiryu, to address “flagging sales” of the company’s entire portfolio, from AAA games to mobile titles. As part of the move, staff such as Naoki Hamaguchi, the director of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, have been promoted to executive officers moving forward. However, things aren’t looking as rosy for one of Square Enix’s other key RPG franchises: Dragon Quest.
Bloomberg reports that a top producer on the series, Yu Miyake, is stepping down from the series as part of Square’s reorganization, and will now be leading development at the company’s mobile games division. Miyake, who has been with the Dragon Quest franchise since 1992, has reportedly been moved there following a number of delays to the upcoming Dragon Quest XII. Announced back in 2021, little else has been heard about Dragon Quest 12 until now, which doesn’t inspire much hope this game will see the light of day anytime soon.
According to Bloomberg, sources close to the matter say that Yosuke Saito, a producer at Square known for his work on the Nier series, is believed to be a “strong candidate” to take the lead on the Dragon Quest series.
Kiryu, as president of Square Enix, has made no attempt to hide his desire to make the company leaner and mix things up. He opened the year by declaring that the company would be “aggressive” in its use of AI, and told investors that he wanted Square to make fewer games, instead focusing on marquee titles and marketing them more effectively to promote sales. The company’s sales have struggled of late, even with heavy hitters like last year’s Final Fantasy XVI, whose sales were subject to scrutiny from Square and fans alike.
Per Bloomberg’s report, Kiryu’s latest restructuring of the business isn’t the only way he has tried to reach this goal. According to their sources, he has also shut down a number of unannounced projects over the last year. Kiryu has also seemingly placed “checks” on producers in order to rein in and streamline the production process. The hope, it seems, is to focus more on internally developed AAA games rather than turn to “external resources.”
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