Square Enix President Steps Down Amid ‘Extraordinary’ Loss Announcement

Things aren’t going too well over at Square Enix right now as the president has stepped down and the company has announced an ‘extraordinary’ financial loss. This morning it was announced th Yoichi Wada is no longer Square Enix president and representative director. According to Square Enix’s announcement, the change is “subject to a resolution” at the company’s annual shareholders meeting in June, and a board of directors meeting held afterwards. The news coincides with Square Enix announcing further major revisions to its fiscal year forecasts, which the company attributes to its decision to implement major restructuring in the wake of “the rapidly changing environment of the game businesses.” Square Enix expects the changes, which it noted as affecting development policy, organizational structure, and business models, to incur a total “extraordinary” loss of ¥10 billion, or around $106 million. Ouch!

Venture Beat is also reporting the company has sold off its portfolio of free-to-play games to startup Sleepy Giant Entertainment. Square Enix is a video-game publisher and developer best known for its Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider series. The company most recently re-launched the Tomb Raider franchise to critical success.