In Square Enix’s 2015 Annual Report, President Yosuke Matsuda looked towards the future, saying, “Our business environment is undergoing major changes.” This includes the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One “growing significantly” in North America and Europe, with smart devices growing more common.
Wanting to deliver “content of consistently high quality to customers around the world under the best conditions possible,” Matsuda talked about their plans to revitalize existing IPs for the new consoles, while also exploring virtual reality:
We will revitalize some of our strong IPs in ways that meet the needs of the modern gaming market. For example, we will take an IP developed for earlier generations of game consoles and recreate it for the latest consoles, while also proactively developing versions for play on smart devices.
In addition, we will also explore possibilities involving VR (virtual reality) and other new platforms. We want our longtime fans to relish reliving past experiences with a freshness that only the latest in technology can provide, while at the same time have new customers enjoy the IP as though it were brand new.
By not only optimizing single pieces of IP for single platforms but also rolling out IP in a multi-dimensional manner to meet the needs of the modern market, we believe we can deliver exciting new experiences.
Matsuda also acknowledged how important new IPs are, and said, “We will work in the fiscal year ending March 2016 to ensure that these IP cultivation platforms [console games, smart device games, arcades, PC games, and comics] give rise to new IPs for us to foster for the future.”
Elsewhere in the report, Square Enix called Final Fantasy Type-0 HD a “major success” after selling more than one million units worldwide.
So far, those strong IPs Square Enix will be revitalizing include Final Fantasy with the Final Fantasy VII Remake on PS4 and Nier with Nier New Project on PS4.
For the rest of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, Square Enix will release Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Hitman, and Just Cause 3, while Final Fantasy XV will release later in 2016.
[Source: Square Enix]
