Former Square Enix executive says the company must modernize its IP strategy

Former Square Enix business director Jacob Navok has argued that the company needs to modernize how it handles its biggest IP. His criticism is not that Square Enix lacks strong brands. It clearly has Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts and a library most publishers would steal a chocobo for.

The issue is whether those brands are reaching younger players with the same force as newer live-service and cross-media competitors. Navok points to Square Enix’s experience with Final Fantasy 11 and Final Fantasy 14 as proof that the company understands long-running online worlds, but argues it has not moved quickly enough with collaborations, free-to-play experiments and modern audience-building.

That is a painful but relevant debate. Final Fantasy still matters enormously, but younger players increasingly discover brands through Fortnite-style events, creator ecosystems, anime crossovers, mobile habits and social platforms. Square Enix does not need to turn every franchise into a live-service blender. But it probably does need a sharper answer for how its classics stay culturally loud between major releases.

Source: Insider Gaming - https://insider-gaming.com/square-enix-needs-to-modernize-its-ip-former-exec-says/