The founder of Eidos Montreal is hinting that Sony might swoop down on Square Enix or at least one of its developers.

 

 

Eidos Montreal founder Stephane D’Astous recently gave an interview to GamesIndustry.biz, where he discussed the general state of Square Enix and the recent sale of Eidos Montreal, as well as the possibility of a Sony takeover. He explained that the sale of Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal and Crystal Dynamics to the Swedish Embracer Group was partly due to Japan’s increasing pressure on foreign developers to achieve better commercial results. He described the situation as a “slowing train” that needs a fresh “injection of cash”.

As for Sony, D’Astous said he was aware of rumours that the company was interested in bringing Square Enix on board after Square sold its three biggest Western developers to Embracer Group.

However, D’Astous said the caveat to this is that Sony’s interest may only be in buying Square Enix’s Tokyo studio rather than the whole company. “I heard rumors that Sony said they’re really interested in Square Enix Tokyo, but not the rest,” D’Astous told GamesIndustry. “So, I think [Square Enix CEO Yosuke] Matsuda-san put it like a garage sale.”

 

Square Enix is looking to expand its list of studios, according to its latest financial report

 

When gamers take a look at the list of titles produced by Square Enix’s Tokyo team, it becomes clear why Sony is interested in trying to buy this studio. The team’s most notable credits include several titles in the Kingdom Hearts series, notably the three mainline games. However, it is unknown if the team is also working on the recently announced Kingdom Hearts 4.

Nonetheless, the team’s pedigree would fit nicely on the list of Sony’s studio, which critics and gamers regard as having some of the best single-player triple-A games in recent times. However, the Tokyo team’s argument against them is that rather than leading the development of a significant game alone, they would have preferred to share the development burden with several groups. It begs the question, if the Tokyo team is acquired, will they expand to lead development on a more prominent title or continue to act as a support team for games like God of War: Ragnarok or Marvel’s Spider-Man 2?

Source: GamesIndustry.biz