Square Enix layoffs reportedly planned for publishing, indie sectors

The layoffs could happen as soon as later in May

Square Enix

Square Enix layoffs are reportedly happening as soon as May or June 2024, with staff in publishing, IT, and SE’s indie game label under threat. Sources who attended Square Enix’s staff meeting following the company’s earnings report told Video Games Chronicle that SE’s president Takashi Kiryu told staff that workers in the U.S. and European offices would be affected.

Kiryu didn’t disclose how many staff the layoffs will affect, but Square Enix Collective, the company’s indie lable responsible for the likes of PowerWash Simulator and Little Goody Two-Shoes, will be one of the divisions hit the hardest.

The news comes after Square Enix reported losses numbering millions of yen and weak console game sales for the third year in a row. That’s despite Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releasing in the same fiscal year, alongside several smaller-scale projects. Once again, Square Enix’s service game division – FFXIV and Dragon Quest X, in other words – was one of the business’ only branches to actually make money in the previous fiscal year.

It also comes after the company’s promise to invest heavily in blockchain games, which has, apparently, not resulted in anything – or nothing SE announced, anyway.

Kiryu said the layoffs are part of Square Enix’s broader restructuring plan, which include shifting away from console exclusives and investing in “quality over quantity.” Hopefully, it includes investing in marketing so people know Square Enix games that aren’t Final Fantasy actually exist.