According to the known industry insider, Jeff Grubb, Square Enix is in a good position for a Sony buyout. Specifically, Grubb mentioned that the earlier rumors that he, along with others, perpetuated were about Square Enix. Grubb added that Square Enix’s recent firesale had something more to do about streamlining the company to make it easier for Sony to make a deal.
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) May 3, 2022 Square Enix recently let go of some of its biggest IPs and studios for the steal of a price of $300 million. The transaction with Embracer Group is expected to close later this year and will give the massive holding company access to Crystal Dynamic, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal. Following the announcement, audiences couldn’t help but wonder why exactly Square Enix sold the said studios for a low price, and now we might know why. Acquisitions are very rarely leaked to the public. Case in point, nobody knew about Microsoft’s interest in Activision-Blizzard nor Sony’s with Bungie until they happened. The same could be said for Square Enix and Sony. For what it’s worth, being acquired by Sony makes a lot of sense for Square Enix. As we’ve already mentioned, the Japanese entertainment company behind hits like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts is synonymous with PlayStation. Most of the studio’s upcoming games like Final Fantasy VII Part 2, Final Fantasy 16, Forspoken, and Valkyrie Elysium, are exclusive to the PS5. Not to mention, an intensified focus on what Square Enix does best, which is making memorable and iconic RPGs, aligns with the studio’s recent decisions to roll out remasters of its classic titles like Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers and maybe even Tactics Ogre. If the rumored acquisition came true, Sony would have exclusivity over the said games and their respective franchises, which gives the console a lot of fodder against Microsoft in the still-ongoing console wars. Unfortunately, we’re all at the mercy of an official announcement. Until Sony or Square Enix confirms the purchase, all we can do is wait.
