More on the Sony / Square deal

[10.10.01] » Both companies speak out on what Sony's recent purchase of stock means for Square.

   After the surprise announcement yesterday that Sony had purchased a sizable percentage of Square stock, many were left wondering exactly what ramifications the deal would have for both companies. Later in the day, Square and Sony hosted a question and answer session, lovingly translated by Video-Senki, to explain exactly how the stock purchase would affect them.

   SCE President Ken Kutagari made it a point to stress that Sony would in no way be pressuring Square to keep its games on Sony systems. "We're not asking Square to make games only for PlayStation and PlayStation 2." Kutagari stated "We're simply asking them to make fun games that everyone can get into."

   By coincidence, however, Square just happens to think that the best platform for those games is still Sony's -- at least for the time being. "Our belief has always been to produce games for whatever platform is the most popular," Square President Nao Suzuki said, "and for now, that platform is the PlayStation and PlayStation 2." He did restate that future development for other consoles is always a possibility, but it seems clear that Square intends to target its home development on the PlayStation for the foreseeable future.

   Handheld development, however, may be a different matter. Suzuki stated that Square plans "to continue pursuing opportunities to supply games on portable systems like Nintendo's." As before, the possibility of Square developing for the GameBoy Advance may lie in Nintendo's hands. Square has stated in no uncertain terms that it would like to bring its games to the GBA, but Suzuki made it clear that "what happens next depends on the hardware developers."

    Suzuki stressed that the cash infusion from Sony would help the company get back to its core business of producing a variety of games, and not just the Final Fantasy franchise. Suzuki was frank about the company's over-reliance on its flagship series: "We risked running the FF franchise into the ground by concentrating everything on it." But the future may hold a more diverse output for Square. "In the next year or two, though, I want to see Square making several million-selling titles per year," Suzuki said. "I want to see Square selling a million of games other than FF."

   Be sure to check out V-Sen for the full transcript of the Q&A session.