14 DAY TRIAL // The economic recession that's been wandering around the globe like a plague has done its share of damage to many countries and industries. But as things seem to be settling down and slowly getting back to the wrecked economy that people are used to, it seems Japan is once again fighting the flow of things. Marked also by the small number of booths and exhibitions at this year's Tokyo Game Show, at least compared to previous years, one of Japan's biggest game companies is tightening its belt.
According to gaming site Kotaku, Square Enix is about to lose anything from 200 to 300 employees. It's still unclear from what section of the company these layoffs will be, but it seems the Japan-branch of the company will be letting its people go. Developer Taito is also under Square Enix management, so a part of these layoffs might come from here. Taito was established way back in 1953 as a trading company by a Russian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan, and it was purchased by Sqare Enix in 2005.
These layoffs could also be caused by the acquisition of the massive game developer and publisher Eidos and the costs that this purchase implied. The British company has huge gaming titles in its resume, like the Legacy of Kain series, Tomb Raider, Hitman, Thief and Championship Manager series so the right Enix assumed to publish all games made by Edios might prove to be a long-term investment. Another big game to come out of Eidos is Deus Ex, which won over 40 Game of the Year or best in its class awards in magazines and on websites. The title also had a sequel, Deus Ex 2: Invisible Wars, but it was such a disaster it shouldn't even carry the name of the original.
As far as Square Enix is concerned, the company was formed on April 1 2003, when Enix Corporation absorbed Square Co. and formed the gaming titan that it is today. The company is responsible for games such as the Final Fantasy series, Dragon Quest or the Mario franchises. But with few big releases this year, like The Last Remnant and the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII among others, though for the PSP and DS platforms mainly, the company seems to be struggling and apparently letting employees go is the most viable solution it has found.