Square Enix President Sets Gaming Goals for 2018
With another successful year under Square Enix’s belt, the president of the company published a [...]
With another successful year under Square Enix's belt, the president of the company published a letter that thanked everyone for their support and laid out goals for 2018.
From games to new consoles, 2017 presented several opportunities for Square Enix to capitalize off of, opportunities that haven't gone unnoticed by president Yosuke Matsuda. In his New Year's letter, Matsuda took note of 2017's notable moments ranging from virtual reality to the ever-changing gaming economy.
"The environment surrounding the content industry is undergoing significant changes as advancements are made simultaneously in multiple technologies, including AI, xR (VR, AR, MR), next-generation communications systems, and payment infrastructure. As a result of these advances, consumers are likely to enjoy richer content experiences and greater convenience. These environmental changes look poised to gather further momentum going forward, and we expect them to serve as a tailwind for our Group. As such, we will forge ahead with our content development efforts and accelerate the expansion of our global content business."
Mentioning each of the major consoles specifically, Matsuda also spoke of the promising console market moving forward. The Nintendo Switch was referred to as a "major global success," but Matsuda also mentioned the continued rise of smartphones and the market for mobile entertainment.
"Another key feature of the current digital content landscape is the smartphone. Annual global smartphone shipments are now in excess of 1.5 billion units, making the smartphone an essential device for the enjoyment of digital contents, and the evolution of smartphone technology knows no bounds.
"In the consumer game console space, March 2017 saw the release of the Nintendo Switch, which has proven a major global success, selling more than 10 million units worldwide. PlayStation 4 has also seen sales of more than 70 million units, and the Xbox One series, which has just added the Xbox One X to its lineup, got off to a good start during the holiday season. These successes present major business opportunities to game publishers and developers. 2017 was also a year in which Japanese game titles represented a significant presence on the global consumer console game market.
"While the consumer console game market has been solid in the West over the past several years, it has struggled in Japan. However, we expect the Japanese market to gain significant vitality going forward as it joins the overall trend."
Matsuda closed out the letter by thanking everyone for their continued support, the full letter seen through Square Enix's site.
