[16/04] Sony Sells Off All Of Its Shares In Square Enix

Razberry Knight

Razberry Knight

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Things aren’t looking too great for Square Enix, as this morning, Sony Corporation made the surprising announcement that they will be selling all of their shares they have of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. in the upcoming days.



Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Sony, have come to an agreement with SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., one of Japan’s three largest brokerage firms, for the transfer of 9,520,000 shares they had in Square Enix.



This transfer is expected to amount up to a total of about 4.8 billion yen (roughly $47 million) of additional profits for Sony’s first quarter of 2014. The full transfer value will be officially announced on April 17th, 2014.


Source:Siliconera
 
Good find. I'm not surprised though. Square Enix is having trouble with profit and Sony is trying to improve their companies as well. Sony and Square Enix need to re-format so to speak.
 
From what was previously explained to me by someone who knows a bit about the market, the shares only do is help SE in investing onto their games that make it onto their console. So SE shoudl still be able to make games meant for sony-consoles, but it wont come out of Sony's pocket (from what was explained to me).

But the reality is, the way Sony's current marketing strategy goes, there's not much room for SE to make exclusive games for Sony as its also compatible with Xbox One and it appears that SE wants to take full advantage of that (FF XV). So i'm assuming Sony caught up real quick about that, and decided to not risk anymore money.

but i'm no expert in this kind of stuff. I just wanted to know if SE will continue to make games for sony, and i was assured that the likelihood is yes, but of course the chance of it being exclusive is now slimmer than ever with how SE's current standing.
 
Se can still make games for sony, but sony wont be helping them (correct me if i'm wrong on this).
 
This doesn't mean much.

Sony obviously wasn't reaping any tangible benefits from continuing to hold on to these shares, and decided that they may as well secure a decent return on nonvoting shares now while Square-Enix - going by most recent financial reports and news that FFXIV has 2 million subscribers - is in a surprisingly better financial position. Sony of course, haven't had an easy ride with the liquidation of their old offices and the recent exoduses of personnel from their first-party developers, so this makes sense.

It's nothing to do with exclusivity or potential betrayalathons. Though really, arguably Sony's stake on the company was diluted the moment Squaresoft merged with Enix anyway, I wager.
 
Razberry Knight said:
From what was previously explained to me by someone who knows a bit about the market, the shares only do is help SE in investing onto their games that make it onto their console. So SE shoudl still be able to make games meant for sony-consoles, but it wont come out of Sony's pocket (from what was explained to me).

But the reality is, the way Sony's current marketing strategy goes, there's not much room for SE to make exclusive games for Sony as its also compatible with Xbox One and it appears that SE wants to take full advantage of that (FF XV). So i'm assuming Sony caught up real quick about that, and decided to not risk anymore money.

but i'm no expert in this kind of stuff. I just wanted to know if SE will continue to make games for sony, and i was assured that the likelihood is yes, but of course the chance of it being exclusive is now slimmer than ever with how SE's current standing.
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If they are in finance they would know. I handle market trends but I'm more along the lines of a business analyst and executive consultant but your friend is right it won't keep Square Enix from releasing games on Sony consoles. Shares are like an investment. Based on certain statistics Sony sold it's shares of Square Enix with an understanding that it wouldn't get a return on an investment but not a direct return like you would think. Square Enix going exclusive to a console would not be smart, unless they couldn't produce or distribute it. Yeah, FFXIV ARR is doing well. Sony is just restructuring. Square Enix is going through changes too. I wouldn't say doom and gloom for either company. I am thinking they both will come back stronger if they make good choices.


P.S. I'm reading some of the comments on IGN about this. I might have to make a comment there myself ;)
They are quite......interesting.
 
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can't say I'm shocked.

I mean what has holding the benefits now done for them? a few handheld exclusives... and with losing FFVersus exclusive to it being renamed, I don't see the point of Sony holding it at all.

Really won't stop them from making games for Sony either. They been making games for Nintendo since Gamecube, and GBA, and now the XIII series is on Xbox360, and with KHIII and XV going on both consoles, Sony really isn't getting any exclusives anymore, why risk it any longer?
 
What does this mean exactly? That SE can't publish on Sony??? Or does it just mean they won't Square with any money?
 
If this means the possibility of HD remakes coming to xbox and possible games on steam then awesome. I don't think Final Fantasy will be going anywhere. I'm sure SE has lots of other people with shares and now that Sony isn't around anymore SE can really develop FF games for any platform without Sony licensing restrictions.
 
Razberry Knight said:
no thats not what that does...this affects SE more than it affects Sony.
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More in what way?

It affects them differently but I wouldn't say more. It's a good move by Sony. They aren't reaping a lot of benefits or perks by owning shares in Square Enix and Sony is trying to become more profitable.
Sony is struggling in areas that need to be addressed. They need to make their products innovative, cost effective, and affordable among other things.
If by "more" your saying that it affects Square Enix in a more negative light I can see that. Square Enix has fewer resources than Sony. Sony has more options. Both companies are trying to work out issues.
For others worried about games from Square Enix coming to PS4 I wouldn't be. The install base for PS4 is growing everyday and it wouldn't be smart for SE to not publish games on the Sony console.
SE would miss out on potential profit. Square Enix first has to create better games for them to make more profit.
This of course all depends on the structure and decisions of the companies.
 
spoonyrogdrumps said:
More in what way?

It affects them differently but I wouldn't say more. It's a good move by Sony. They aren't reaping a lot of benefits or perks by owning shares in Square Enix and Sony is trying to become more profitable.
Sony is struggling in areas that need to be addressed. They need to make their products innovative, cost effective, and affordable among other things.
If by "more" your saying that it affects Square Enix in a more negative light I can see that. Square Enix has fewer resources than Sony. Sony has more options. Both companies are trying to work out issues.
For others worried about games from Square Enix coming to PS4 I wouldn't be. The install base for PS4 is growing everyday and it wouldn't be smart for SE to not publish games on the Sony console.
SE would miss out on potential profit. Square Enix first has to create better games for them to make more profit.
This of course all depends on the structure and decisions of the companies.
Click to expand...

SE it affects them differently, but what affects them is a bigger deal than what it does to Sony. SE no longer will get funding from Sony, and will most likely get funding from who ever they sold their shares to. But who knows if all those shares were sold at once to a single buyer,so most likely SE wont be getting the same backing as they did before, especially on the sony console games they make.
 
Razberry Knight said:
SE it affects them differently, but what affects them is a bigger deal than what it does to Sony. SE no longer will get funding from Sony, and will most likely get funding from who ever they sold their shares to. But who knows if all those shares were sold at once to a single buyer,so most likely SE wont be getting the same backing as they did before, especially on the sony console games they make.
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Ok that's what you meant. Yeah since Sony isn't backing the company, Square Enix won't be influenced by Sony for the software SE publishes. For instance they could bring the games to other systems first or the games themselves won't be influenced by Sony. I remember reading who purchased the shares but forgot the name of the company. I'll look it up real quick...

They sold the shares to SMBC Nikko Securities. Interesting...
 
I wonder how much the shares were sold for. It'd be interesting to see if the public perception of SE has reduced the value to next to nothing (in comparison with how much they used to be worth) or if they were still worth loads for whatever reason.
 
greenyxi said:
I wonder how much the shares were sold for. It'd be interesting to see if the public perception of SE has reduced the value to next to nothing (in comparison with how much they used to be worth) or if they were still worth loads for whatever reason.
Click to expand...


The expected sale price is significantly lower than the Y16 billion (nearly US$157 million) that the shares are currently worth, according to their current market value.
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According to the few sources I read this is what they all say... Sony is selling it for lower than it is worth, haven't seen a final number, but Sony is in as much money trouble as Square-Enix was, this just kinda proves how desperate Sony is right now.
 
Like most others I seen this was coming and nothing that will effect us much at all. I just want IV to be on console!!! It really sucks that I cant play this classic because it is only on handhelds, so damn dumb!!

Sorry had to vent on that for a sec :)
 
IV is on a console, it's on the SNES and PS1, not to mention the psn store now. Just buy FF Chronicles which comes with FFIV and Chrono Trigger.
 
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