Square Enix squashes rumors of company acquisition or sale

According to Square Enix, recent talk floating around about it being in talks to sell off any part of its business or be acquired is untrue.

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A rumor running around on the evening of April 15 had the internet abuzz with conversation and speculation in the gaming industry. It regarded the possibility that Square Enix could be caught up in conversations about acquisition by a larger company. Such a prospect had many wondering if the developer/publisher behind Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Outriders, and far more could be pulled into exclusivity at one of the bigger names in the business. Square Enix has since come forth, though, to say that the rumors are false. The company is not in talk nor has it received offers for acquisition or sell off.

Square Enix supplied its response to the rumors in a statement to Bloomberg Japan (who also originally reported the rumor) on April 16, 2021. According to a spokesperson of Square Enix, the company is not engaging in business of acquisition by or sell off to another entity.

“We are not considering selling off the company or any part of its businesses, nor have we received any offer from any third party to acquire the company or any part of its businesses,” the statement said.

Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade is among one of the more high-profile projects around the corner from Square Enix.
Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade is among one of the more high-profile projects around the corner from Square Enix.

Square Enix certainly has a lot of business going on right now from the modest to the grandiose. It just launched SaGa Frontier Remastered this week, is working on the next chapter to Final Fantasy 7 Remake for June and Final Fantasy 16 in the future, oversaw the launch of Outriders from People Can Fly, and continues to operate Final Fantasy 14 with a new Endwalkers expansion and PS5 version fast approaching. That is to say, directly and indirectly, Square Enix has a lot of irons in the fire. It would have been a shame to see it bought up and (nightmare scenario) consigned to a specific platform.

That said, it seems that’s not about to be the case anytime soon, so we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Stay tuned as we continue to follow further Square Enix news and updates on all the company’s latest games and activities.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 16, 2021 8:50 AM

    TJ Denzer posted a new article, Square Enix squashes rumors of company acquisition or sale

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      April 16, 2021 9:12 AM

      MS should buy them just so Sony had to pay MS for keeping FF on PlayStation. Lol

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        April 16, 2021 9:36 AM

        MS buying Squeenex would be a huge blow to Sony. I just don't see that happening. I'd put "MS buying Sega" in a far more credible category than that.

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          April 16, 2021 10:07 AM

          Not just Sony, but Nintendo too. There are a -lot- of good Squeenix games coming to the Switch regularly. SaGa Frontier Remastered just launched this week, Bravely Default 2 before that, and they've got the Legend of Mana remaster and the Octopath Traveler follow-up coming. I'd hate to lose out on games like that on the Switch.

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            April 16, 2021 10:25 AM

            I think it would be more that even if MS allowed Squeenex to continue its publishing to Sony and Nintendo, as long as they fully embraced the Xbox as a platform with perhaps preferential treatment, Sony would be far more upset at that than Nintendo, given how Sony has been circling its wagons over the years. But that's fully speculation on something that's not happening :P

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        April 16, 2021 10:52 AM

        Japan wouldn't allow it.

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        April 16, 2021 11:23 AM

        I would think epic would since a lot of their games are made using unreal engine. Deus ex, ff7r, dragon quest 11. Would be a great company to showcase their latest and greatest stuff.

        Just imagine thief 1 remake using their latest engine.

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