It looks like Square Enix is going to be making changes at the summit of its corporate ladder later this year. In a new business memo, the Japanese publisher has revealed its plans to replace Yosuke Matsuda as the company's president, subject to approval from shareholders in June 2023. Matsuda is set to be succeeded by Takashi Kiryu, who is currently the director of Square Enix.
Matsuda has been something of a divisive figure, at least from the outside looking in. The industry veteran helped the publisher regain its composure in the early years of his reign, following a borderline disastrous PS3 generation. But while he did watch the firm push plenty of big hits in his ten years at the top — titles like Final Fantasy XIV immediately spring to mind — there's no denying that he's been in charge during a very up-and-down decade for the company.
From turbulent development cycles and live service missteps to selling off Western assets and promoting NFTs, it hasn't been an easy ten years for Square Enix. Criticism of the company has been fairly common — at least from our perspective, here in the hardcore gaming space — and it's ultimately quite difficult to overlook very recent misfires like Babylon's Fall and even Forspoken.
As alluded, many have also questioned the company's big 2022 sale to Embracer Group, which saw Square Enix essentially cut the majority of its Western studios and properties — like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex — loose for a surprisingly low $300 million.