Square Enix: 'We Need to Go Beyond Traditional'; Eyeing Potential Acquisitions

In an industry that is increasingly filled with buyouts and acquisitions, the importance of working with or outright buying other companies has not gone unnoticed by Japanese publisher Square Enix.

"It may be a business alliance or it may be us taking a stake in others, but we need to go beyond traditional Square Enix," Square Enix president Yoichi Wada told Reuters of his company's future. "Economies of scale and breadth of scope are getting important."

The company, itself formed from a merger between Final Fantasy publisher Square and Dragon Quest creator Enix, has no set budget for acquisitions or investments, but can issue up to 250 million shares without approval. At current stock prices, that comes out to about $9.20 billion.

"I'm not suggesting we are going to use up all that. But we have a capacity to do that," Wada added. "We face competition not only from Japanese video game companies but from game companies worldwide. We also see some new players from outside the video game industry coming in."