Square Enix joins the list of game companies going on record about the pending launch of the Switch 2.
Stealth40K shared this translation of a statement from producer Akitoshi Kawazu, from an interview with Famitsu:
“The successor to the Nintendo Switch that Nintendo will announce in 2025 and the corresponding market strategy that Nintendo will develop. I’m looking forward to it as both a user and a creator.”
Kawazu is one of Square Enix’s senior veterans. He is best known for creating the SaGa franchise, as well as for his work on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and The Last Remnant. SaGa: Emerald Beyond, the latest game in its franchise, released last year on Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.
Of course, we expect Square Enix to be one of many third party game developers who already knows the secrets of Nintendo’s upcoming console that the fandom has been going crazy over in speculation over the last year.
Square Enix is a major partner who regularly brings games to Nintendo’s platforms. Nintendo owns some Square Enix shares, for the purpose of fostering this relationship with real business commitment.
For those who were curious, other game companies Nintendo owns stock in include Bandai Namco, Kadokawa (yes, the same Kadokawa Sony is now majority stockholder of), Konami, Koei Tecmo, and DeNA. And there may be other game companies whose business relationships they are not obliged to make public.
We had previously reported on longtime outsourcing game development company TOSE expressing their hopes that the Switch 2 could revive their business. Subsequently, EA CEO Andrew Wilson and Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Suda51 expressed their hopes for the upcoming console.
The hype is high for Nintendo’s latest platform. Subsequently, the pressure is high for Nintendo to match or exceed their achievements with the Switch. It isn’t just Nintendo who needs the Switch 2 to be successful, but the rest of the game industry also hopes that the Switch 2 will reverse the current trend of the video game industry experiencing its few unprofitable years.
With two years of game companies closing, developers getting laid off, and games getting shut down, it’s natural for the industry to be looking for a lifeline. Don’t think of this as another chapter in the console wars, though. The Switch 2 failing in the market will not bode well for all game consoles.
As Sony finds that their record-breaking sales of PlayStation 5 consoles aren’t enough, Microsoft is exploring other ways to do business than making console exclusives. You may not have realized it, but Nintendo is actually the last real front for the traditional video game console business. For this reason, everyone needs the Switch 2 to succeed.
