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[Updated] Several Potential Buyers Show Interest in Acquiring Square Enix, According to Bloomberg

[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 Views

Update:

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. 


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.


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46 Comments
The Fury (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +30
Airaku The Fury (on 16 April 2021)

Agreed. This is the most toxic part of fanboyism. This is the part where opinions actually hurt us all by encouraging this stuff.

  • +13
Dulfite The Fury (on 16 April 2021)

Kind of hard to not want it though. Gamepass PC is extremely convenient and cheap, so the more games that come to it the more money I save.

  • -8
SanAndreasX Dulfite (on 16 April 2021)

Microsoft is not a sugar daddy.

  • +3
DonFerrari SanAndreasX (on 17 April 2021)

Yep, even if today it may benefit you long term a monopoly isn't a good thing for customers.

  • +1
UnderwaterFunktown (on 16 April 2021)

I really hope it doesn't come to that

  • +11
abdulhade (on 16 April 2021)

It isn´t a good thing, not at all :(

  • +10
V-r0cK (on 16 April 2021)

"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.

  • +7
Poliwrathlord (on 16 April 2021)

Glad this story was wrong. If this is the direction of the industry I want out lmao.

  • +6
hiccupthehuman (on 16 April 2021)

I want Square to remain independent.

  • +6
Dahum (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +6
Tridrakious (on 16 April 2021)

Bloomberg is becoming tabloid trash. There are no sources backing this up and VGChartz should take this article down.

  • +4
Cerebralbore101 (on 16 April 2021)

The rumor has already been proven false. A good journalist doesn't report rumors. They investigate them.

  • +4

Lol and I'm already getting downvoted by the Twitter/TikTok crowd.

  • +6
Tridrakious Cerebralbore101 (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +5

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...

  • +3
Jumpin (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +4
Juanita (on 16 April 2021)

This is fakenews.

  • +4
Darwinianevolution (on 16 April 2021)

Wait, is SE for sale? Did I miss something?

  • +4
Hynad (on 15 April 2021)

God, no.

  • +4
Pemalite (on 15 April 2021)

Oh boy. If Microsoft buys up Square Enix... That might give them the ammunition to push Gamepass into Japan?

  • +3
SanAndreasX Pemalite (on 16 April 2021)

Doubtful. More likely it would be the slow death of the company for no good reason. Japan is never going to buy into Microsoft.

  • 0
Pemalite SanAndreasX (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +2
SanAndreasX Pemalite (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +1
KratosLives SanAndreasX (on 16 April 2021)

Boy if they ever secure drangon quest and final fantasy , it might be over for playstation in japan.

  • -1
Vizigoth04 (on 16 April 2021)

Bloomberg = A name evidently not to be trusted

  • +1
venomcarnage (on 17 April 2021)

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.

  • 0
method114 venomcarnage (on 17 April 2021)

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.

  • 0
Walbert (on 17 April 2021)

Bloomberg is it Schreier doing his usual incompetent job

  • 0
SanAndreasX (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • 0
eddy7eddy (on 16 April 2021)

Nintendo and Monolith Soft: Oh you know... I think I need this.

  • 0
Kakadu18 eddy7eddy (on 16 April 2021)

Monolith Soft was not independent nor big. It belonged to Bandai Namco. If SE is bought it would damage the competition, Monolith Soft being bought didn't change much in general.

  • 0
SanAndreasX eddy7eddy (on 16 April 2021)

Monolith Soft was likely going to be shuttered after Xenosaga failed. Baten Kaitos saved the studio because it got Nintendo’s attention.

  • +1
Mr Puggsly (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • 0
Azzanation Mr Puggsly (on 16 April 2021)

They wont be worth asmuch as Bethesda.

  • -7
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Salnax Mr Puggsly (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • 0
mjk45 Salnax (on 19 April 2021)

The main game driving those figures would I suspect would be DQ

  • 0
LivncA_Dis3 (on 18 April 2021)

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!

  • -1
mjk45 LivncA_Dis3 (on 19 April 2021)

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.

  • 0
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SanAndreasX Ka-pi96 (on 16 April 2021)

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.

  • +1