Square Enix has unveiled sweeping layoffs and warned that life will get harder for the staff who stay – the so called “restructuring” hits almost every division in Europe and the United States.

The video game sector is still reeling, and Square Enix has now triggered a fresh wave of job cuts across its European and American teams. Company president Takashi Kiryu confirmed the move in a call with employees outside Japan, framing it as “a fundamental restructuring of the overseas publishing organization” that will touch “almost every area” of the studios. Headcount reductions are not quantified, but are believed to be substantial, and those who avoid the axe are expected to feel the strain.

Per details shared by VGC, Square Enix aims to refit its overseas operations to be more “agile” and “efficient.” More information about the “restructuring” will come later, but Kiryu affirmed position eliminations and indicated that employees who remain will be required to spend more time working from the office.

The publisher has not disclosed exact figures, but a source told VGC that nearly 140 staffers across IT, marketing, publishing, sales, QA, business planning, and other functions are “at risk” at the London HQ alone. Note that UK law mandates a consultation period before redundancies are finalized, so the ultimate total could be lower. Beyond London, the Square Enix Europe group as a whole, including external development and marketing studios and Japanese communications support teams, is also facing potential losses.

The strategy comes into focus in the company’s latest business plan progress deck. Slide eight states: “To strengthen development capabilities from a Group-wide perspective and optimize resource allocation to maximize the value generated by IPs, a further review of the development process has been conducted. As a result, the decision has been made to close overseas development studios and move towards consolidating development functions in Japan.” The process appears ongoing, as the document also says that “development support functions and staff allocation, both in Japan and overseas, will be reviewed from the perspective of overall Group optimization.”

Square Enix Accelerates Its AI Push

In the same presentation, Square Enix announced a partnership with a University of Tokyo team to “improve the efficiency of game development processes through AI technologies.” More specifically, the plan is to automate 70 percent of QA and debugging tasks by the end of 2027. Although not explicitly linked to staffing, some observers already fear this could pave the way for another wave of layoffs.

Source: 3djuegos