In 2023, Square Enix will put a lot of emphasis on business consolidation, according to a newsletter from president Yosuke Matsuda. Although the Japanese publisher has a busy year ahead of it, with much depending on titles like Final Fantasy XVI, Final Fantasy XIV’s continuous development, and perhaps even Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the business is dedicated to strengthening its foundation.

You might recall that in 2022 Square Enix sold a number of their Western studios, along with franchises including Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, to Embracer Group. Since then, the publisher has worked to strengthen its emphasis on in-house research and development, and this trend won’t be altering.
Square Enix plans to “accelerate our efforts to strengthen our internal development capabilities” over the course of the “medium to long term” by “further expanding our internal talent pool, as well as more swiftly concentrating our resources on the development of titles that are competitive globally.” In other words, it seeks to increase its portfolio while committing to its own projects.

This makes sense when you think about how many new games Square Enix launched in 2022. Since Matsuda emphasizes the significance of “end-to-end global publishing,” the corporation does in fact seek to refocus its publishing activities. Previously, the business’s Western and Japanese publishing divisions ran rather separately. The objective is to become “One Square Enix,” Matsuda continues.

However, given the current state of the game industry, it stands to reason that Square Enix is gearing up for a significant sale. Those that post on forums and social media would have you believe so, at least. Square Enix acquisition rumors have been around for a very long time and have been very persistent. Following this letter from Matsuda, rumors have once again begun to circulate because consolidation has long been associated with new management and making a company more appealing to bidders.

But we’ll need more persuasion. There hasn’t been any conclusive evidence to support the persistent rumors that Square Enix wants to be acquired. And since competition watchdogs are currently opposing Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, we doubt Sony would take a similar step anytime soon.