You may recall a few weeks back that Sony sold all of its 9,520,000 shares in Square Enix. While most were quick to assume that the sale signalled some impending doom for the company, the reasons behind the move were actually much less sinister. Indeed, Final Fantasy series producer Shinji Hashimoto revealed at Comic-Con Thailand that the deal was actually mutually beneficial.
"Back in 2001, Square Enix had financial problems and Sony bought our stocks. Now, the situation is reversed. Since then, we have had good support from our customers for our products, so Square Enix is back on its legs," the luminary stated. "But Sony has declined. The presidents of both companies had negotiations and resulted as everyone knew. We did not have an argument. Since Sony once helped us, it was time that we helped Sony back."
Well now, isn't that nice? While the explanation may be just a bit saccharine for some of you, we think that it undoubtedly puts this issue to bed. What do you make of Hashimoto's statements? Do you think that there may still be more to this story? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source vg247.com]
Comments 9
Wishy washy rubbish. Square Enix didn't have a choice, Sony wanted rid as part of streamlining. Sony might be in trouble but PlayStation isn't. Square Enix will be relying more on PS that PS on SE. Yes I'm sure PC sales are doing fine but PS4 is a behemoth.
Thanks for all the ps exclusives, Square. You know, Kingdom Hears Dream Drop Distance, Bravely Default, Final Fatasy type 0/Agito, Kingdom Hearts 3 and FF15 being ps exclusives... You sure know how to show your gratitude.
@naruball I can get why you may be mad over not getting the first few, but whining because Xbox players now get the same games as you, at no tangible loss to yourself is just childish.
@Heavyman99
Gotta love the internet. A place where people can just call others "mad" and "childish" just like that. I'm sorry to disappoint you but despite your assertions about my personal feelings about this, I was simply stating Sony's perspective over their treatment by Square Enix. As a company which saved Square Soft from bankruptcy, claiming that they are showing their gratitude by letting them sell their shares is ludicrous.
And as a company Sony is not receiving any preferential treatment by them. If they truly wanted to show appreciation to Sony, they would have developed either exclusive games for them as they used to or at least port their games to psvita. As for me, I have a 3ds and can play these games anyway, so it in no way bothers me on a personal level.
There's nothing childish about my statement; just pointed out that even with the multiplat titles, the ps4 won't get the same boost. In other words, there is an apparent discrepancy between words and deeds when it comes to SE.
@naruball they still got a cut of the money square was earning so either way they gained plus bravely default sold way more on 3ds than it ever would on vita
@ReigningSemtex
Them getting a cut doesn't have anything to do with SE showing gratitude. It's not like they chose to give them a % of the gains. As for Bravely Default, a) we'll never know, b) had it been a multiplat game, it would have sold more.
They claim that they are helping Sony now that the company is not doing well, unlike them, like Sony helped Square in 2001. I fail to see how.
@naruball
So jumping ship from Nintendo consoles to Sony's for almost all their games since the N64/PS1 isn't showing Sony preferential treatment? Its been like that for 20yrs now, is that enough or do they owe Sony their eternal loyalty?
What they're claiming is they're literally returning the favor, Sony bought their stocks when they were strapped for cash, now they're buying those exact same shares back for the same reason.
@Zombie_Barioth
They weren't doing Sony a favour those 20 years. FF7 came out on the more popular platform which also supported cd, something that n64 lacked. The game couldn't have been released on n64. Same with 8-9. 10-12 were released on ps2, the leading platform. 13 was a multiplat, because the ps3 was not doing great. It couldn't have been done on wii due to weak hardware. 15 is again multiplat, since they thought the xbone would do well. I don't see the 20-year preferential treatment you speak of. They always made a decision from a business perspective. Nothing more. Same with Dragon Quest. It's always released on the most popular platform.
About your second point. So, if Sony wanted to sell their shares, would no one apart from SE want to buy them? I admit I don't understand how that works, so please enlighten me if you do.
@naruball
I'm aware of why FF7 went was on PS1, but they could still have stuck with Nintendo if they really wanted to, and their games would sell systems still. In fact Final Fantasy was a system seller for Sony, who didn't have much of any clout compared to what Nintendo had with their IP. It was very much a symbiotic relationship.
As for stocks, what I mean was they basically bought back the shares Sony originally bought, so it was almost like borrowing money.
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