Final Fantasy maker Square Enix Holdings announced plans to integrate generative artificial intelligence throughout its game development process and announced job cuts.
Square Enix confirms reorganization of Western business
A Square Enix spokesperson said in a widely circulated statement on Nov. 6, the same day an internal presentation was made public, that the company is restructuring its North American and European operations. A spokesperson said Square Enix aims to strengthen its development capabilities and create a unified global marketing approach, and that management made the “very difficult decision” after careful consideration and analysis to position the company for long-term growth.
Don’t miss:
Around 137 positions in the UK could be eliminated, IGN reported, citing sources. However, UK labor law requires the company to hold redundancy talks, which could ultimately reduce the number of workers laid off, IGN reported.
Strategic shift away from European and American markets
According to the presentation, Square Enix has been systematically dismantling its presence in Western countries. This strategy involves “closing”.[ing] Overseas development studio and shift[ing] “Towards consolidation of domestic development functions”
Decrypt reports that the company has been shrinking its international footprint in recent years after a period of global growth.
Square Enix sold three studios and multiple franchises, including the popular “Tomb Raider” series, to outside buyers in 2022, in a bid to fund the company’s investments in artificial intelligence and blockchain gaming technology.
The rest of the company’s Western portfolio currently consists of the “Life is Strange,” “Outriders” and “Just Cause” series, according to IGN.
Trending: Do you miss your Tesla? energy x Working on the next $200 billion opportunity — Lithium
AI will dominate quality assurance by 2027
According to the presentation, Square Enix predicts that by the end of 2027, 70% of quality assurance tasks will be handled by generative AI. The company developed these AI efforts through a partnership with the University of Tokyo’s Matsuo Laboratory. This comes after Square Enix President Takashi Kiryu announced plans for the company to “become aggressive in the application of AI and other cutting-edge technologies” in 2024, as stated in a New Year’s letter dated January 1, 2024.
Early adoption of emerging technologies
Square Enix, an early adopter of emerging technology, previously used the image generation tool Midjourney to create artwork for its 2024 game Foamstars, producer Kosuke Okaya told Video Game Chronicle.
“AI was used to create an in-game album cover for music featured on the FOAMSTARS soundtrack,” Square Enix told VGC in a statement.
Square Enix has also been experimenting with non-fungible tokens in recent years, launching an NFT-based game called Symbiogenesis on the Ethereum blockchain in 2022. However, the game was shut down after the final chapter of the story ended this summer, Decrypt reported.
Related article: Wall Street’s $12 billion property management company opens its doors to private investors – Crowdfunding without intermediaries
Adopting AI tools across industries
Competitors, including Ubisoft Entertainment SA, have announced significant artificial intelligence efforts in their development processes, Decrypt reported. Ubisoft, the Assassin’s Creed game publisher, introduced Ghostwriter in March 2023 to help streamline developer workflows.
Chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) In January 2024, Ubisoft announced that it had joined a select group of game developers working to implement Nvidia’s AI tools to create more convincing, interactive, non-playable characters.
“I’m used to building a character’s backstory, their hopes and dreams, the experiences that shaped their personality, and I’ve trained myself to use all that information to write dialogue,” Virginie Mosser, Ubisoft’s director of narrative, said in a blog post on March 19 while creating characters for the company’s NEO NPC project. “It’s completely different, but for the first time in my life I get to talk to a character I’ve created. I’ve dreamed of doing that since I was a kid.”
Read next: 7 million gamers already trust Gameflip with their digital assets — You can now own shares in the platform
Image: Shutterstock
