Following the majors news of John Riccitiello resigning from his position as CEO of Electronic Arts, Yoichi Wada, the CEO of Square Enix, is resigning as well. Yoichi Wada will be stepping down from his role as the CEO, President and Representative Director of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. Yoichi Wada will be succeeded by Yosuke Matsuda who as previously the Representative Director of Square Enix and will now be taking on the role as CEO and president.
Square Enix has released an official release about the change in management which can be seen here:
http://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/20130326_02en.pdf
or a sample below:
NOTICE OF CHANGE IN REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTORS
SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (the “Company”) expects that the Company’s representative directors will change. Such change is subject to a resolution by its 33rd annual general meeting of shareholders to be held in late June, 2013, and a resolution by its board of directors meeting to be held after the said meeting of shareholders.
1. Reason for the election
Renewal of the Company’s management team2. Change in the representative directors
Name: Yoichi Wada
Current title: President and Representative Director
New Title:Name:Yosuke Matsuda
Current Title: Representative Director
New Title: President and Representative Director3. Effective date of the election: Late June, 2013
Yoichi Wada has been the president and CEO of Square Enix since its foundation in 2003 after the merging between game developers Square Soft and Enix, both of which produced the most popular JRPGs at the time. Wada was also the CEO of Square before the merge after joining the company in 2000. Yosuke Matsuda himself has a large management role becoming the Senior Vice President of Square Soft in 2001. Since the merge Matsuda has become the Director and CFO of the company and will now partake the role as President and CEO of Square Enix.
But why the sudden change? The same day that Square Enix released and announced that Wada will be resigning, they also released their earnings and losses of the fiscal year and revisions of the future forecasts. According to the sheet, the sales of console titles were sluggish in Europe and the United States and digital sales were lower than expected. All together the company has lost a staggering 10 billion yen, with 4 billion yen lost on content, another 4 billion yen on inventory write-downs and 2 billion yen on other issues. Pretty much all sales were lower than forecasted and previous years, which placed the large corporation in a negative space. The resignation of Wada and the stepping up of Yousuke Matsuda is hoped to help strengthen the company and offer new changes to management to help bring in profits.
Wada has been in control for most of the production of Square Enix’s first party releases, mainly the Final Fantasy series. Of course this might mean a new direction for the series since many fans of the series are not happy with the series currently. While this change in management could signify good news or more bad news, it is rather important nonetheless.
Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd Official Statement
Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd Earnings, Losses and Forecast Revisions