First Capcom, now Square Enix. This generation is seeing some big westard steps taken by Japanese publishers eager to lap up some of the creamy monetary goodness waiting on the other side of the globe. Its not a surprising situation, all things considered. With the Xbox 360 devouring wallets everywhere except Japan, there’s a veritable dairy farm over in the west just waiting for the plundering, and by staying focussed on home, Nippon companies are only ever going to miss out.
In the case of Squenix, it’s also a matter of content. Speaking to The Financial Times‘ Web site, Senior VP Michihiro Sasaki explained that in order to maximize profits, the company needs to branch out from its core product-types and start publishing more traditionally western-ccentric games.
We need to seek co-operation with a US publisher – we need local content. Our strength is in role-playing games and fantasy titles, so it is a bit difficult to appeal to the US market.
While that statement is probably inciting groans from those of you who remember when Square turned the SNES sequel to Front Mission into a platform shooter, at the moment it seems the company’s intention is to aquire western content rather than to fill Final Fantasy XIII with equipable baseball caps, life-restoring phoenix burgers, or any other anti-American clichees you might care to hazard. The company’s current internationally-focussed effort The Last Remnant is actually looking pretty damn spiffy too, and anything that gives the company more cash to spend on projects like that has to be a good thing.
