Square board of directors interview

[07.01.01] » Square's bigwigs try to explain where all that money went.

   During the company's annual meeting with shareholders last week, Square gave investors the chance to pose a few questions to the board of directors. And, with Square posting its first ever losses last fiscal year, they had a lot to answer for. Our good friends at the web's hippest indie gaming site, Video-Senki, have translated the full Q&A session.

   Company president Nao Suzuki was honest about Square's poor performance over the last year, and admitted that the future would bring a reevaluation of the company's priorities, including "whether [it] should continue with movies or not. " The huge expense of The Spirits Within seemed the sorest subject for the investors, but company director Yoichi Wada explained that the film need only finish between 20th and 30th in ticket sales to be profitable. One of the lesser goals, however, is to simply raise worldwide brand awareness of the Final Fantasy name and, in that respect, the company already considers the movie a success.

   When asked if the company has "anything new to replace Final Fantasy," Suzuki responded that Square has a "fervent desire to have a brand that can exceed the success of the Final Fantasy name." Suzuki pointed to the Disney licensed Kingdom Hearts as an attempt to find a brand that would succeed around the world. Wada also explained that one of the losses for last year was a canceled game in development for "overseas markets." It seems likely this project was the mysterious Silent Chaos, unseen since we first learned of its existence last year.

   It was also mentioned that development for FF XII is currently underway and the company is aiming at a March 2003 release for the sequel.

  For more details on the shareholder meeting, including the company's explanation for the low-hype release of FF IX, head over to V-Sen for the full transcript.