Yoichi Wada stepping down

Ⓐaron

Factiō Rēpūblicāna dēlenda est.
AKA
The Man, V
And nothing of value was lost.
"Today, it was announced that Square Enix president Yoichi Wada is stepping down. He will no longer be serving as Square Enix's Representative Director. Yousuke Matsuda, who joined Square in 2001, will take over Wada's role in running the company.

The reason given for Wada's demotion was "a management reorganization". According to Japanese website 4Gamer, no word on what's next for Wada. This comes as Square Enix is forecasting an "extraordinary loss" in its next financial statement."
 

Arianna

Holy, Personified
AKA
Katie; Seta.
It probably has a lot to do with the poor ratings of recent games and money, no doubt, but they will be diplomatic in reasoning to those who do not - well, honestly, have business knowing the details. Nothing may be lost, but will anything be gained? That's the question. Eh - I'm just typing to myself - tired, little sleep, and need to get up soon...
 

Carlie

CltrAltDelicious
AKA
Chloe Frazer
I shall pretend to be surprised again:

tumblr_mk8cy9EjzO1s87cr7o1_400.gif
 

ForceStealer

Double Growth
Hopefully it means they'll get someone that doesn't rock back and forth between saying things like "Western gamers just don't get it" and "We will not take a risk on anything that won't fit the mold that appeals to Western gamers"
 
I exclaimed a loud, strange noise while reading this title. I did not see that coming. Looking forward to read whatever Yousuke/Yosuke Matsuda ends up saying.
 

Splintered

unsavory tart
Googling Yousuke Matsuda at the speed of light.

There's nothing on him. That's kind of unsettling.

EDIT

MR YOSUKE MATSUDA WAS BORN ON APRIL 27, 1963. HE HAS BEEN SERVING AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO LTD SINCE JUNE 2004. HE IS ALSO IN CHARGE OF FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING. HE IS ALSO SERVING AS DIRECTOR IN FOUR SUBSIDIARIES. HE USED TO WORK FOR MITSUI LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED AND OTHER COMPANIES.

x ehhhhhhhhhhh
 
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Alex Strife

Ex-SOLDIER
It was bound to happen.

Still, I honestly thought TLS would rejoice more.

I mean, I don't feel good by rejoicing at someone stepping down from a position at a company, but I'm happy if this means better times ahead, which I think (hope) it does.
 

Unlucky

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN
I thought this was an early April Fool's til I googled it myself :P Oh well, I hope it's a start of good times ahead.
 

Drax

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Benoist; Captain Highwind
Will this really stop remakes and start serious projects?

I guess on the flip-side, Square could completely turn into a company that publishes other developers' games and does nothing else. Forever.
 
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Super Mario

IT'S A ME!
AKA
Jesse McCree. I feel like a New Man
It's been a long while, but if he can revive the dead dog that is MOST of the FF games then let's throw this guy a shot. There's been alot of weird shit that had seemed to reduce the epicness in Square's products so lets hope it heads in the right direction now. And hopefully, with this guy now in charge, stop delaying shit with versus and release it or cancel it.
 

Makoeyes987

Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
AKA
Smooth Criminal


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About. Fucking. Time.
 

Hisako

消えないひさ&#
AKA
Satsu, BRIAN BLESSED, MIGHTY AND WISE Junpei Iori: Ace Detective, Maccaffrickstonson von Lichtenstafford Frabenschnaben, Polite Krogan, Robert Baratheon
I'm kind of ambivalent about this, tbh. I don't want to jump to conclusions that dumping Yoichi Wada will bring about some sort of Final Fantasy golden age of nothing but terrific first-party titles, because there's outward factors like sales and public perception and shit, but then there's also boardroom politics, which for giant companies like Square Enix can be a little opaque.

Also, say what you will about the guy but lately as a publishing and merchandising company Square Enix has been on the top of their game for finding talent.

edit: hehe, game.
 
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Jiro

Average Jiro
I don't think a change of face will see any significant changes or improvements, at least not in the short term. Maybe Matsuda will turn things around and Square Enix will get back on top of their game. Maybe.

I have to say though, this guy gets a promotion that comes with a pay cut. Talk about a kick in the balls. I guess prestige is important to Japanese people because he was better off where he was.

I'm not thrilled about seeing Wada go, but he's staying within the company so anything he was bringing to the table hasn't been lost. It's just interesting to see where it all goes from here.
 

Splintered

unsavory tart
I don't think a change of face will see any significant changes or improvements, at least not in the short term. Maybe Matsuda will turn things around and Square Enix will get back on top of their game. Maybe.

I have to say though, this guy gets a promotion that comes with a pay cut. Talk about a kick in the balls. I guess prestige is important to Japanese people because he was better off where he was.

I'm not thrilled about seeing Wada go, but he's staying within the company so anything he was bringing to the table hasn't been lost. It's just interesting to see where it all goes from here.
Well apparently this comes with a massive restructuring but I have absolutely no idea what that means.

I'm actually not sure how I feel about this. I mean, it's Wada and who likes Wada but at least I could understand where Wada was going, he made stupid comments but they were honest comments, things like "hey mobile games cost little and make profit!11" well, now mobile games are on their way out. So that's one thing.

Update: GamesBeat is reporting Square Enix sold a number of its free-to-play games to privately funded start-up Sleepy Giant, with sources "familiar with the matter" saying four unannounced games were included in the deal. Neither party has announced the deal, with a Square Enix representative telling GamesBeat it doesn't "comment on any details for external development deals."
But what pisses me off is that they are complaining about Western game sales as the problem. And this could affect Eidos/Crystal Dynamics and all their Western property they've been recently publishing. This includes Tomb Raider, Hitman, Sleeping Dogs, Deus ex Series, Thief, Kane and Lynch.

Or it could mean that they are talking about their own games not selling well in the worldwide market, which means they could try and target Final Fantasy to western audiences completely, or start focusing on their own market- doing things like not even bothering putting games like localizing Type-0- which already was unlikely to because of the move to Vita/low PSP sales around here.

Meanwhile I don't know Yosuke Matsuda. At least I knew where Wada stood in with games, all I know is that imdb puts him as an executive producer for one game, Unlimited Saga, and special thanks in Dissidia and Dirge. And he might be in charge of finances which means he is also a money man.

So yeah, *shrugs*
 
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Flintlock

Pro Adventurer
I can only speculate, but I imagine Matsuda's cut in base pay is being sweetened by the prospect of some serious bonuses if (and it is if, not when) he manages to get the company back into profit.
 

Jiro

Average Jiro
Given that a lot of popular Japanese games aren't released outside the Japanese market, I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the strategies they employed, but oh sweet Jesus I hope they don't.

And yeah, if they fuck with the Eidos et al games I will probably murder them myself.
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
Quoted for lulz and relevance:

Last month when Square Enix announced huge losses, CEO Yoichi Wada said that he expects an internal development revamp to take two years.

Dear Yoichi Wada: Here's an internal development revamp for you that would take two minutes and have positive results as quickly:

wadaspromotion.jpg

Interesting that it's been almost two years since Wada made that comment about an internal revamp taking approximately that long.
 

ForceStealer

Double Growth
Forbes article Aaron posted said:
If you’d like to discuss, disagree or tie this news in to the possibility of an Agni’s Philosophy-powered remake of Final Fantasy VII, do leave a comment

Haha! Wow, I expected some boring suit's take on the situation, but apparently the guy actually knows his stuff. :monster:
 

Lex

Administrator
I've found Forbes to be surprisingly intuitive with their web writing at least - especially when it comes to the video games industry. Some of the best articles from the debacle surrounding the original Mass Effect 3 ending were from Forbes writers, and it's because of the sever consumer backlash and the precedent it may or may not have set. I think.

They're good guys is what I'm trying to say :monster:
 
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