Square Enix introduced a working model where most of its employees can work from home if they desire to do so.

According to the Japanese company, Square Enix expects around 80% of its staff to switch to work from home, starting December 1. Via this move, they expect to create a „flexible and diverse working environment,” while boosting productivity and improving the employees’ work-life balance (which is quite important in any workforce). The initiative is called Work-from-home Program, and it’s set to combine what Square Enix called „home-based” (remote working at least three days a week) and „office-based” (three days a week in the office) models. Every member of the company’s staff will be assigned one of the two models, and they can shift between models each month if they want to do so. However, we don’t know if Square Enix allows its staff to pick their first model, going by this statement: „In general, all eligible employees will be designated as ‘home-based’. Division heads will designate some positions or individual employees as ‘office-based’ as dictated by the nature of the work involved.” But the 80% ratio should be a hint that most of the workers will be „sent home.” – „The company expects approximately 80% of employees to be home-based in December, the first month of the program’s implementation.”

Square Enix hopes to hire more diverse recruits, and create „an organisation capable of adapting to unexpected developments such as disasters and changes in employment models.” Unfortunately, this model is only introduced in Japan, so foreign offices and studios have not been affected by this move.

The Japanese publisher’s first-half financial report also confirmed that Marvel’s Avengers did not reach the expectations of Square Enix. „The HD Games sub-segment posted an operating loss as initial sales of Marvel’s Avengers were lower than we had expected and unable to completely offset the amortization of the game’s development costs,” Yosuke Matsuda, the president of Square Enix, said.

However, he expects „to make up for slow initial sales by offering ample additional content” for the game so that it can perform the way they want to see it by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2021.

Seeing how the game was announced in January 2017 (as part of a multi-year, multi-game partnership between Square Enix and Disney-owned Marvel Entertainment, and we suspect Outriders to also be part of this…), no wonder they don’t want to quickly bin Eidos Montreal‘s and Crystal Dynamics‘ work.

Source: Gamesindustry, Gamesindustry

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