The ending fiscal year for Sony on March 31st was a rough one for the console as a whole. Taking its blows and successes as it managed to scrape by with some profit in various releases. There’s been numerous stories following the constant trail of Sony’s layoffs and closures. So it goes without say that the company is suffering quietly this year; and that has never been more apparent then right now. Square Enix, the game publishers and developers for the renowned Final Fantasy series and the astoundingly successful Bravery Default last month have been dumped by Sony. The sources at Siliconera commented that Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., which is a fully owned subsidiary of Sony, came to an agreement with SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. in order to transfer all 9,520,000 shares they’d previously invested in Square Enix.
This transfer of funds is expected to rake in to a total of about 4.8 billion yen (which is around $47 million dollars) of additional profits for Sony’s initial first quarter of this year. The full value of the transaction will be announced on April 17th, 2014, once the exchange goes through and Sony is inclined to comment on their sudden change of heart. Keep in mind that the folks over at Sony have been accumulating and retaining Square Enix stock for some time, so the abrupt sell-out comes as a surprise to both Square Enix enthusiasts and PlayStation platform users.
Gameinformer published an article a while back that estimated Sony suffered a $1.1 billion loss from the previous year. Even profitable studios that were doing some good for Sony are currently beginning to find themselves sitting in the unemployment line. This includes divisions that’re in the United States and abroad; so the leak is not centralized to one distinct location. Granted, this trend seems to be constantly spreading amongst the entire flank of the gaming industry, so it goes without much say that Sony isn’t the sole company that’s beginning to see a markdown on its profits. Square Enix were also among the “underperformers” with market flops such as Hitman: Absolution and their unreasonable expectations for Tomb Raider‘s sales.
The transfer itself might be the desperate act from a company that believes it can’t afford sinking further down. Although Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has proven itself as a successful attribute, and Bravery Default has given Square Enix more room to reconsider its stance on JRPG localization, it wasn’t stable enough for Sony to consider holding on. This is a purely financial motive on Sony’s part, though it’ll no doubt be compared to a loss of confidence as to where the Final Fantasy series (or Square Enix) is planning on “going” in the imminent future.
What are you’re thoughts on the sale? We’d be interested to hear your responses below.