What If MS Buys Square Enix?

This is just an interesting what if I was thinking of. It isn't incredibly far fetched. MS has been on a massive buying spree going on two years now. The latest being Bethesda, with a freaking $7.5 bil purchase.

So it doesn't seem MS is looking to slow down on buying studios soon, and given the money they shilled out for Bethesda, them making such an offer to Square Enix isn't so far fetched. The question is, if they went along with it right now, what would the fallout look like considering FF16 is coming out as a PS5 exclusive, and FF7 Remake Part 2 will likely also be a timed PS exclusive like pt1?

Not that it is likely but there would be a huge freakout if they started snagging Japanese publishers. I think Sega would be a better acquisition, or Capcom, unlikely all the same but they'd be better off with either of those over Square Enix.

They could but it be a weird decision considering Square Enix largest fanbase been on PS and losing it means losing up to 80% of sales like how FF15 first week sales is 80% on PS and FF7R sold well on just on 1 platform.

Nah.

Hope not, JRPG's sucks my A**.

They wouldn't. But imagine the cow meltdown when that happens.

If they do, i will let everyone know how bad Square is and how nobody cares about their games.

I bet Sony hopes they don’t considering how poorly PS5 is doing in Japan right now. (If you believe the stories.)

@jasonofa36: "They wouldn't. But imagine the cow meltdown when that happens."

Oh gosh, I remember how nasty cows got when Rise of the Tomb Raider got console launch exclusivity, it would be worse no doubt, whatever that would look like I don't have a clue.

@lamprey263: "FF XVI is now a Windows/Xbox One Series X Exclusive"

Damn. The number of fans burning their FF 15 discs would be insane.

If it happens, it's definitely a much bigger deal than the Zenimax / Bethsada acquisition. That's because the scale of their franchises is overwhelmingly different.

Final Fantasy

• The first game in the series was released in 1987, with 14 other main-numbered entries being released since then.
• The franchise has since branched into other video game genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, fighting, and rhythm, as well as branching into other media, including CGI films, anime, manga, and novels.
• Final Fantasy is one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time, having grossed $10.9 billion in lifetime revenue, as of 2019.
• The Final Fantasy video game series has been both critically and commercially successful, selling more than 159 million software units worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
• Square Enix reveals the Final Fantasy XIV player count has now hit 20 million registered users.

The Elder Scrolls

• Since debuting with Arena in 1994, the series has produced a total of five main games (of which the last three have each featured two or three expansions) as well as several spin-offs.
• In 2014, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls Online.
• The series has sold more than 59 million copies worldwide.
• In November 2016, Howard announced that Skyrim had sold over 30 million copies.
• Elder Scrolls Online player count hits 15 million.

Also, sales of their other major franchisees from List of best-selling video game franchises

Square Enix

• Dragon Quest May 27, 1986 82 million
• Tomb Raider November 15, 1996 81 million
• Kingdom Hearts March 28, 2002 30 million

Bethesda

• Fallout September 30, 1997 38 million
• Other Bethesda franchisees are not in the Top 50.

(These above are basically quoted from the Wiki pages, and there are source links within each page.)

Sure... watch MS bury all your favorite Square licenses. They'll sit there doing nothing but rotting. It took them how long to start using Rare properly?

I remember way back when a Playstation fanboy got mad over Final Fantasy 13 coming to Xbox 360

I think only the fanboys would care. Would the vast majority of gamers (casuals) care?

@st_monica: It’s about value. Square is worth $2.6 billion, far smaller than the MS-Zenimax deal at $7.5 billion.

It’s entirely possible but unlikely, the earnings of Square aren’t very high.

@kadin_kai: Last I saw SE was worth more than 6.5 billion. Which in a sale could actually push it over the 7.5 billion for Zenimax/Bethesda.

Ms could totally still buy them, might not pan out though with the fans.

Very doubtful that would happen but it most certainly would be a huge bombshell of an acquisition no doubt.

As for any current exclusivity deals then they would probably still hold. However depending on the actual agreements they could possibly still bring over exclusives to Xbox and/or PC with variants like Final Fantasy XVI: Definitive Edition or what have you. It all just depends on whatever the wording in the arrangements are.

Square suck for the most part, hopefully MS doesn't go anywhere near them.

@NoodleFighter: That video is depressing.

Not the video itself, just the realization of how long I've been coming to System Wars..

Last I checked, Japan may have further tightened those rules. So it's unlikely MS will buy any major Japanese studios.

The only Japanese studio MS has purchased to date is Tango Gameworks, but only because it was a small startup when Zenimax purchased it.

Square Enix is a far more valuable company than Zenimax.

• Square Enix is a public corporation. Its market cap is currently $7 billion.
• Zenimax was a private company. Its last reported total equity was $2.5 billion.

MS purchased Zenimax for far more than it was worth. They took a loss on that acquisition. But it's a loss MS is willing to absorb in order to make GamePass a success.

I can answer that question when they actually begin using Rare properly.

They should. The scene is so boring right now.

No, no and no. MS already bought a major player in the industry if they buy another then this industry is moving in the wrong direction.

this video is amazing lmao prime cow footage, im saving this one

Final Fantasy games have been trash for the longest time anyway so no big deal. And MS works well with Nintendo, so they would still get the good games like Octopath Traveler/Bravely Default.

No dude American companies cannot buy japanese companies its a law in japan remember. Japan wants to keep its business Japanese owned.

Microsoft won’t purchase SE

Maybe not all of Square/Enix, but I could see them purchasing the western elements of the company, Square/Enix Europe and the IPs they work on.

Would be funny, if only for seeing upset Sony fans.

Would be good as well, as MS doesn't do exclusives.

@BenjaminBanklin: That's actually fairly plausible. MS likely won't be able to purchase SE, but they can purchase SE Europe from SE. So no Japanese IPs like FF, DQ, or Space Invaders, but they could have Western IPs like Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex.

Seems you can't hope for anything good on Xbox without wishing they'd buy companies. They'll always suck at making games.

How badly did Avengers do?

@Jag85: Ah apologies you’re right! I read the next row on my screen.

Nah..

:P

This. There was a rumor from 4chan a few weeks ago that was doing the rounds on Reddit/ResetEra, an all the rumor sites, claiming that SquareEnix was considering divesting from its western branch assets (Eidos, Crystal Dynamics) and selling them off, after the Marvel Avengers game flopped. Similar to what they did with IO Interactive.

Out of everything Square Enix has, IMO those are about the only things that would be of value to Microsoft. The rest? Sony can have them. Final Fantasy has not been the force it once was in the cultural zeitgeist in 20 years. SE is not what it was, and what little is left would be better served under Sony.

I would much rather see Microsoft get SEGA, imo. They have more of a history. If MS can get in there, free them from making low risk-medium reward projects focused on short term profitability/immediate ROI they could be a force to be reckoned with.

Sega's japanese in-house teams are incredibly talented. Imagine if they actually had access to blockbuster AAA-AAAA budgets like they did back in the dreamcast days. Give Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, and Panzer Dragoon Saga the Fable and Perfect Dark treatment. Rebooting Shenmue is even easier than Fable and Perfect Dark, because they dont have to build a new team from scratch and re-invent the wheel all over again. they already have an in-tact apparatus capable of building a modern Shenmue game (The Yakuza games are modern spiritual successors). Literally just migrate them to Unreal Engine 5, increase the quality control on their output, bring Yu Suzuki back, hand him an actual blockbuster budget (and not a kickstarter budget) and the game makes itself.

I doubt Square enix want to be under MS leadership Sony would be a better fit.

I doubt that would happen, but square enix has for the very most part sucked for many years now anyways. They were both a lot better before they joined.

I highly doubt it, then again I said same thing about sega.

Similar to the bethseda purchase games will becone exclusice to xbox and its game pass service.

Folks keep repeating that there are laws against foreign entities purchasing Japanese companies yet I have not seen any evidence that makes it illegal, especially companies from the United States.

That would be suicide for SE

Microsoft can't even release a good Halo game these days and you dumb lems want them to buy the entire industry.

Why would MS buy SE when SE it self has to acquire Eidos to stay relevant. Their in house output and IPs have gone to sh*t long time ago and the recent sale figures from the other thread proved that their biggest IP isn't even that relevant anymore.

Even if MS is after Japanese market, they are much better off acquiring or establishing Chinese/Korean companies for much cheaper. They make similar style of games that are popular in the same region and with the money from MS they can compete in production values as well.

> Looks at Microsoft portfolio

> Looks at Square Enix portfolio

Won't happen

I wouldn't give a shit honestly. Not into FF or TR

The day Xbox becomes the leader in JPEGs will be the day hell freezes over. I can't see Square being acquired by Microsoft. Zenimax was definitely a better buy.

Although Square Enix doesn't make a single title I've given a crap about in 20 years, I must admit the absolute head-bursting meltdowns that would exist from the PS crowd if MIcrosoft did it would certainly entertain me more than any of their games will.