Square Enix selling off some of its Western studios as well as the valuable IPs licensed to them has raised several questions, one of which is the possibility of an incoming acquisition from PlayStation. According to VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb, there may be an underlying reason behind this recent move from Square Enix.
It is believed that the idea behind Square Enix’s sale of Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics was to rid itself of the ongoing Marvel game licenses. The licenses in question are for the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy IPs, and because of them, the possibility of Square Enix getting acquired by another company becomes rather complicated.
OK. I've said this a thousand times, but there's always someone who is hearing it for the first time: We never really hear enough to report on acquisitions with any certainty. Sony acquiring Square was the big rumor. But I CANNOT confirm that. And I continue to not know. pic.twitter.com/5ZKJruszCE
— Grubb (@JeffGrubb) May 3, 2022
It remains to be seen whether these licenses have been voided or whether Marvel will allow them to be transferred to Embracer, but one thing’s for sure: they’re no longer Square Enix’s business. It was reported that Square Enix has lost a total of $200 Million on its Marvel game projects in less than two years. With this hurdle out of the way, the company is now in a position where an acquisition is feasible for, say, PlayStation.
Jeff has been hearing of a potential Square Enix buyout by Sony, but he warns that there isn’t enough evidence to report on it with certainty. It makes sense, as such information is always classified up until the actual announcement. It’s hard to say whether it will indeed happen, but a Square Enix acquisition does make sense for PlayStation, given their longstanding history and multiple exclusivity deals.
It’s also the case that the market for most of Square Enix’s games is largely on PlayStation and PC. With Sony being comfortable in doing first-party PC ports these days, an acquisition would result in no significant change to Square Enix’s operations. Regardless, it’s all speculation until an actual confirmation comes from either party.
