Square Enix will make AAA games multiplatform as part of its ‘aggressive’ new business plan

Square Enix has published a new medium-term business plan, which includes making its AAA games multiplatform going forward.

The plan, which the publisher has dubbed ‘Square Enix Reboots and Awakens’, lays out a three-year strategy which it hopes will lead to “long-term growth”.

One of the four pillars of this plan, which involves “strengthening customer contact points”, will see the publisher “shift to a multiplatform strategy”.

The plan says Square Enix will “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox and PCs”.

By doing this, it will be able to “build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles in regards to major franchises and AAA titles, including catalogue titles”.

While it isn’t explicitly mentioned in the plan, the recent releases of Final Fantasy 7 Remake  and Rebirth are the most obvious examples of Square Enix releasing a platform-exclusive AAA title.

This new plan appears to suggest that such platform exclusivity may not be in Square Enix’s best interests any more, and that it may even be planning to release some of its previous “catalogue titles” on new formats, be that Xbox consoles or the successor to the Nintendo Switch.

Elsewhere in the document, Square Enix stresses that it has to “shift from quantity to quality” and focus on delivering games that are enjoyed by more players.

It aims to “launch titles that ensure excitement that will bolster loyalty to our brand, placing top priority on bringing smiles to our customers’ faces”, and to “keep and build on the fan bases for our major franchises by regularly releasing AAA titles”.

The plan appears to be the outcome of an announcement made during Square Enix’s financial results briefing in February, where president Takashi Kiryu said the company was conducting a fundamental review of its development process to improve the quality of its games, and that more information would come in the spring.

During its latest financial results released today, the publisher confirmed it had cancelled a number of projects because they were “incompatible with the Group’s revised approach to the development of HD games, which reflects such objectives as multiplatform development and the strengthening of internal development capabilities”.