Yoichi Wada Steps Down as Square Enix CEO

15
Richard Walker

Yoichi Wada is to step down as Square Enix CEO following a major revision of the company's yearly fiscal forecast. An investor's note states that Square Enix expects that Wada will leave the position of CEO, ending ten years in the role starting in 2003 with the Square Co. and Enix Corporation merger. Wada first joined Square in April 2000.

The fiscal forecast in question reduces expected revenue by ¥16.5 billion ($175m/£115m) as a result of a poor performance for Square Enix's major console titles in Europe and North America since the company's last forecast back in October 2012. EA's former CEO John Riccitiello also stepped down recently, apparently due to a failure to hit financial targets.

Representative Director, Yosuke Matsuda will replace Wada, with a more permanent decision to be made during the general meeting of shareholders in June this year, and a resolution by its board of directors in a meeting afterwards.

[Via GI.biz]

 

Comments
15
  • Sucks for him, but maybe give people what they want.
  • one thing i never understood about this kinda things is that ceo's are to leave when things go bad, feels a bit like being forced to abandon a sicking ship (wise choice). Then again, i'm a not a ceo or an economice expert so who am i to talk ^^.
  • Maybe SE can recover both the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy names. As both are in shambles. We'll see how the replacement does.
  • If they would just release final fantasy versus 13 (Final fantasy 15 now for PS4) already maybe they wouldn't lose so much money, i'd buy the game before the console even comes out it's been a buy for years
  • gaming must be a thing in the past now? all i see these days is how game companies are failing to reach there targets and stuff like that its going crazy. hopefully with kingdom hearts being released again will increase the revenue abit. as that game went platinum. Good luck sqeenix.
  • He has the same coloured eyes as the judge. Though I hope this means they will go back to making JRPGs again, I miss them so much, so very much. Also not with annoying styles like XIII, just straight up turn based battle with or without a timer.
  • #6 i kinda liked XII combat
  • Dear god, does that company need some corporate restructuring. I didn't realize he came into the CEO position in 2003. That kind of explains a lot, actually...
  • Wow, you'd think after 13's failure and them pushing 13-2 (which wasn't bad) and then pushing 13-3.. they'd have learned. Fans cry for Chrono Trigger and they get nothing, DQ is made Nintendo exclusive, Mana goes to IOS and pleas for Versus 13 (the game that could've saved their little 13 series) goes ignored and gets pushed back to the end of the generation. Kingdom Hearts would have been a good thing to release a year and a half ago along with FFX/X-2 HD.. but no. Square need to start making all their games multi platform, give up this silly 'innovative' bullshit and stick to tried and true methods. Something new is always nice but when you give up the fine points of a good RPG and focus on graphics, it's going to fail and leave a bad taste. Also if they wanted money they could make FFVII, VIII or IX HD.. jeez
  • @10: Agreed on the huge focus (and investing more money into) on graphics instead of on good storytelling. Sucks when videogames are no more than cash cows for greedy corporate interests nowadays...
  • This is a step in the right direction... hopefully. "The company has had lower than expected interest in its digital content and is largely blaming a lack of momentum in console gaming for the loss." trolololo
  • KH3 Versus 13 FFX remake shouldn't have been announced so early FFXIV was a train wreck they are trying to fix A new chrono game would be nice Heck a new Jrpg franchise would be nice Bringing DQ to other systems would have helped This comes as no surprise. Hopefully they can turn it around with the PS4
  • All I can say is... ABOUT TIME!
  • Final Fantasy was amazing... Since FF4 I've been a fan, then one day: FF9 was shit. FF10 was shittier. FF11 waas for PC only and that's when I gave up on the franchise. For the past 5-7 years I thought maybe FF13 versus could redeem it's name, if they focused on that instead of forcing out horrible shit like FF13 then just maybe they'd be better. I'm genuinely curious as to why this is happening to so many companies, It just feels like companies are taking a huge risk by not taking enough risks... Strange as it sounds, they try to appeal to the majority but lose their original fans. I'd rather have dedicated, loyal fans playing my game than a huge amount of casuals who don't really know what they want. Dead Space 3 was ordered to be more like Mass Effect right? So now you attract Mass Effect Fans, great! but what about the Dead Space fans? they all jumped ship. Stop catering to people who were never interested in your game!
  • Lets hope things get back on track at square now that Wada is no longer CEO
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