Yoichi Wada, CEO of Square Enix today announced that he’d be stepping down from his position according to a Japanese site.
A quick translation reveals that the official reason given for this change in leaders is merely a “renewal of the Company’s management team.” However, this announcement comes hot on the heels of the company announcing a less than satisfactory fiscal year. The sale of digital media has been less than the company had expected, with the company lowering its expected profit by 5 billion Yen (50 million USD), from 150 billion to 145 billion (1.5 billion and 1.45 billion USD respectively). Square Enix attribute this to the slow uptake of their major game titles by users in Europe and the US.
The sale of digital media has been less than the company had expected, with the company lowering its expected profit by 5 Square Enix attribute this to the slow uptake of their major game titles by users in Europe and the US.In order to try and combat this downturn, Square Enix have announced that it’ll be undergoing major reforms of development policy and organisational structure, which is expected to cost around around 10 billion Yen (Over 100 million USD).
The company will lose 4 billion yen through the disposal of content, another 4 billion through the evaluation of content and 2 billion through undisclosed costs. The company doesn’t seem optimistic either, with a total loss of 13 billion Yen (Just under 150 million USD being forcasted for the financial year
Wada’s replacement will be a Mr Yosuke Masuda, who joined Square Co. in 2001 and is currently serving as the Representative Director for Square Enix. The change will be formalised at a general meeting of shareholders in June.
[Source: NeoGAF]