[Updated] Several Potential Buyers Show Interest in Acquiring Square Enix, According to Bloomberg - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 September 2021 / 5,553 ViewsUpdate:
Square Enix has released a statement on the Bloomberg report saying they are not considering selling off the company and have not received any offers to be acquired.
"Bloomberg has reported today that there is interest from several buyers to acquire Square Enix," said Square Enix.
"However, this report is not based on any announcement by SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD.
We do not consider selling off the company or any part of its businesses, nor have we received any
offer from any third party to acquire the company or any part of its businesses."
Original article:
There are multiple potential buyers who have shown interest in acquiring the Japanese video game company, Square Enix, according to a new report from Bloomberg Japan.
Bloomberg is not sure if the focus is just on the gaming sector of Square Enix or for the entire company.
The digital entertainment business accounted for 72 percent of the total revenue Square Enix earned in the fiscal year that ended March 2020.
Square Enix is most well known for the Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts series of video games. The next major release by Square Enix is the RPG, Final Fantasy XVI, which is in development for the PlayStation 5.
Known Xbox insider Shpeshal Ed via Twitter says that Microsoft and Sony are two of the potential buyers.
Microsoft is one of the potential buyershttps://t.co/j0qFgUlWio
— Shpeshal Ed (@Shpeshal_Ed) April 16, 2021
Sony is also one of the potential buyershttps://t.co/j0qFgUlWio
— Shpeshal Ed (@Shpeshal_Ed) April 16, 2021
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
No thanks. We need competition in the industry, not 3 companies owning everything. Can't believe people are for other companies buying each other out all the time.
Microsoft is not a sugar daddy.
Yep, even if today it may benefit you long term a monopoly isn't a good thing for customers.
I really hope it doesn't come to that
It isn´t a good thing, not at all :(
"We do not consider selling off the company or any part of its businesses, nor have we received any offer from any third party." - Square Enix. Just a stupid rumor.
Glad this story was wrong. If this is the direction of the industry I want out lmao.
I want Square to remain independent.
I’m not into companies buying big publishers honestly.
Small or regular developer studios can make sense being acquired organically with a previous close relationship between both parties involved.
Competition is needed and variety is welcomed.
Bloomberg is becoming tabloid trash. There are no sources backing this up and VGChartz should take this article down.
The rumor has already been proven false. A good journalist doesn't report rumors. They investigate them.
Lol and I'm already getting downvoted by the Twitter/TikTok crowd.
I am as well. This isn't news. This is something Bloomberg did for clicks and VGChartz should know better and be better than that.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I wonder if there was some stock manipulation involved here: throw a rumour of a major purchase, the price rises, sell at a premium, the rumour gets debunked, price goes back to normal, profit. I mean, just look at SE's stock prices, it rose the day the article aired...
BREAKING: Microsoft has just purchased Arkansas for 1.3 billion USD.
Also in the news, Electronic Arts purchased Alabama for 106 million, and laid off 50% of the workforce.
This is fakenews.
Wait, is SE for sale? Did I miss something?
God, no.
Oh boy. If Microsoft buys up Square Enix... That might give them the ammunition to push Gamepass into Japan?
Doubtful. More likely it would be the slow death of the company for no good reason. Japan is never going to buy into Microsoft.
A service like Gamepass+Xcloud which will already operate on every device is a far more tenable approach than trying to shoehorn a western console into the Japanese market.
And Gamepass is definitely finding a customer base, even on PC.
Cutting off major franchises from large swathes of the Japanese market is only going to kill Square Enix, it still won’t bring Microsoft any meaningful presence in Japan. It would be a lose-lose-lose proposition for everybody involved.
Boy if they ever secure drangon quest and final fantasy , it might be over for playstation in japan.
Bloomberg = A name evidently not to be trusted
I remember everyone praying for Disney to buy Fox so they could have the X-Men in the MCU. Then Disney started doing things they did not like and they changed they mind and started saying they own to much sh*t and are a monopoly.
I don’t remember this ever happening. Fox was ruining the X-men. I’m glad Disney owns it now. They had a few hits here and there but they didn’t connect the movies like marvel is doing and it just makes things worse.
Bloomberg is it Schreier doing his usual incompetent job
Oh, for fuck’s sale. Can we please not post stuff like this until there is something substantiated? All this is doing is stirring the pot, and it’s getting tiresome.
Nintendo and Monolith Soft: Oh you know... I think I need this.
Monolith Soft was likely going to be shuttered after Xenosaga failed. Baten Kaitos saved the studio because it got Nintendo’s attention.
If MS wants attention, fucking do that. If Sony bought it, would end Xbox support but that was never crucial to SE.
How much are they worth though? I would think more than Bethesda.
They wont be worth asmuch as Bethesda.
Xbox was never a big part of Square Enix's income, but Nintendo handhleds and the Switch likely are. In Japan for example, since the old Square and Enix merger back in 2003, 9 of their 16 million-sellers have been for Nintendo handhelds.
This could be fine if Sony chose to continue supporting Nintendo platforms. But they haven't shown the same willingness to do that as Microsoft.
u need a lot of dough to purchase square so theres that!
microsoft is swimming in it how can they not entice square already? haha!
Sony 's CFO stated that regarding acquisition capability that they have US 11 billion in cash and can access another 17 billion in other liquid assets without touching their various lines of credit ,this was in their report and was most likely added to reassure investors they need not worry about Sony passing up large opportunities due to low financing.
I definitely don’t want Microsoft to buy them. That would be almost as bad. That said, I don’t really want Sony buying them either.