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[FalsettoVibe]

FYI: 3D Investment Partners' stake in Squeenix has increased yet again. Now it sits at 16.48%.

This is getting pretty crazy. SE has to be in panic mode.

 

[Kamina]

Chyna, maybe they can make Square Soft Great Again

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

If ninny buys them we will be forced to play square jrpgs on that weaksauce potato lvl handheld ninny just launched

There's pretty much no way FF isn't going to have to scale way back though to survive, they want it to be a big AAA thing that does Skyrim numbers... FF is never going to do Skyrim numbers.

One can argue JRPGs don't need to be so literal, that what killed FF was the literal approach of "everything you see on screen is actually happening" and they need to bring back maps, menus etc.

 

[PeteBull]

There's pretty much no way FF isn't going to have to scale way back though to survive, they want it to be a big AAA thing that does Skyrim numbers... FF is never going to do Skyrim numbers.

One can argue JRPGs don't need to be so literal, that what killed FF was the literal approach of "everything you see on screen is actually happening" and they need to bring back maps, menus etc.

Its already scaled back hard, we talking recent mainline FF game, FF16, with only 91m usd game budget, thats fricken nothing, as u saw even that shitty forspoken costed way more, not to mention ubisofts AC:S with likely around 500m usd.

If Square is bought by ninny they will be forced to make their AAA titles on under 50m usd budget, personally i dont want my square jrpgs look like mkw, dkb or metroid prime, thats below ps4 graphic fidelity ffs

 

[Baki]

FYI: 3D Investment Partners' stake in Squeenix has increased yet again. Now it sits at 16.48%.

SE management must feel nervous.

 

[Lord Malachite]

How is acquiring SE a good deal for Sony? All SE games already come to PS--some of them exclusively. SE games sell very well on PS, and SE is very reliant upon the PS audience. Sony acquiring them would be a charity. A hedge fund buying up SE would not have a negative impact on Sony. It seems like billions of dollars Sony could invest in themselves rather than pissing away on a publisher already beholden to them.

 

[xenosys]

Yeah, SE aren't getting sold.

 

[yurinka]

How is acquiring SE a good deal for Sony? All SE games already come to PS--some of them exclusively. SE games sell very well on PS, and SE is very reliant upon the PS audience. Sony acquiring them would be a charity. A hedge fund buying up SE would not have a negative impact on Sony. It seems like billions of dollars Sony could invest in themselves rather than pissing away on a publisher already beholden to them.

It would have many potential benefits for Sony even letting them to continue releasing in rival consoles:

• To make more revenue and profit with their gaming division and first party games, increasing their market share. Particularly in non-PS plaforms (PC, mobile and other consoles)
• To become market leader in JRPG and MMORPG
• Adding FFXIV to their list of very successful GaaS
• Arcade business and classic arcade IPs that could be reused also in other games as guest content, PS+ emulated stuff or for new small arcade games as side content (Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Chase HQ, Arkanoid, Darius, Elevator Action, New Zealand Story, Operation Wolf, Pocky & Rocky, Rastan...)
• Better align the SE game releases roadmap with the Sony strategy that includes first party releases and main 3rd party releases to optimize results
• To block game exclusivities with other platform holders
• Secure that marketing from that company is attached to PlayStation, blocking marketing deals with other platform holders
• To make PS exclusive any potential console bundle, limited edition console or limited edition controller
• To kill any preference, exclusivity or special deal regarding rival game subs, and give preference to PS+ to put games there first (not day one)
• Get very popular licences with potential for non-gaming adaptations and merchandising (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Nier, Mana, Chrono Trigger, Space Invaders...)
• Manga and anime content for Crunchyroll, and Kadokawa if they also end acquiring them

On top of this, there would be additional synergies that would benefit Square Enix, which would mean they would make more money, so Sony would even benefit more from them:

• Better overall management, particularly the one related to game development
• More financial stability and security, access to higher budgets
• More and better marketing
• Key and metrics data of what works and doesn't work in any other RPG game ever published by the competition on PS
• Key data and metrics of other games in general published on PS
• No need to have their own localizaion, HR, marketing, PR, CS, Q&A, legal teams, because Sony has central teams handling that, so could reduce most of their costs in these areas
• Would be able to use internal game engines like Decima, plus other internal code or libraries from other Sony teams, so they'd save money there too
• Being first party would have more hardware details and early access regarding next gen hardware
• Better usage of their IPs outside gaming, and their manga and anime content

If SE some day decides to sell (they have no reason to do so, they are perfectly fine being independent), the best option for them would be to sell to Sony. It's by far the one who could boost them in all these areas and probably more I forgot. Nobody else can offer them that level of synergies.

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

Outdated way of thinking. Square will probably be sold to a mobile giant that will cancel all console release and only focus on mobile games from now on.

 

[Baki]

How is acquiring SE a good deal for Sony? All SE games already come to PS--some of them exclusively. SE games sell very well on PS, and SE is very reliant upon the PS audience. Sony acquiring them would be a charity. A hedge fund buying up SE would not have a negative impact on Sony. It seems like billions of dollars Sony could invest in themselves rather than pissing away on a publisher already beholden to them.

To own the IPs. CEO of Sony wants to buy more IPs that they can monetise through films, games, music. SE gives them IPs, adds to their mobile gaming efforts, live services with FFXIV, gives them a manga publishing platform and gaming IPs that (a) that are popular in Japan and (b) prime candidates to be turned into movies/anime/tv shows.

 

[MrCunningham]

What if... Take-Two Interactive decided to take a risk on Square-Enix? ...


Or even crazier... Rockstar themselves.

Though, Rockstar might be tied up in GTAVI, to the point where they want to hold off on any investments until the game is out?

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

As I stated before, I don't want anyone to buy SquareEnix

If anything I would rather they sell most of their IPs to different companies so that no one company has a monoply in regards to SquareEnix IPS. But that's just me

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

They bought some more Squeenix shares again.

「物言う株主」3Dインベストメント、スクエニHD株を買い増し　保有割合は16.48％ → 17.50％に上昇 | gamebiz

3Dインベストメント・パートナーズは、スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス<9684>株式の買い増しを行い、保有割合が増えたことがわかった。2月4日受付で関東財務局に提出された変更報告書によると、市場内での買付けを継続的に行い、株式保有比率は前回報告時の16.48％→17.50％に増加した。保有株数についても、6059万7677株から6431万9077株に増えた。報告義務発生日は1月28日。…

gamebiz.jp

 

[Baki]

They bought some more Squeenix shares again.

「物言う株主」3Dインベストメント、スクエニHD株を買い増し　保有割合は16.48％ → 17.50％に上昇 | gamebiz

3Dインベストメント・パートナーズは、スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス<9684>株式の買い増しを行い、保有割合が増えたことがわかった。2月4日受付で関東財務局に提出された変更報告書によると、市場内での買付けを継続的に行い、株式保有比率は前回報告時の16.48％→17.50％に増加した。保有株数についても、6059万7677株から6431万9077株に増えた。報告義務発生日は1月28日。…

gamebiz.jp

Deal likely to get done in 2026. At 17.5% ownership, it's too big for them to make money from a share buy-back (share buy backs are only for 3-5% of the stock). They are going to push for a sale.

Here is how their playbook worked out with Fujisoft:

Phase	The "Fuji Soft" Precedent	Square Enix Current Status	What Comes Next
1. The Entry	Bought 5% stake. Sent private letters asking for efficiency.	DONE (April 2025). Bought 5.47%.	--
2. The Escalation	Management ignored them. 3DIP raised stake to 10-15%.	DONE (Late 2025). Raised to 16.48%.	--
3. The "Public Shaming"	Released presentation comparing Fuji Soft to peers.	DONE (Dec 2025). The 100-page "Capcom Comparison" deck.	--
4. The "Alternative"	3DIP brought outside offers. They found PE funds (KKR/Bain) to submit bids to the Board.	ACTIVE NOW. 3DIP is likely shopping SE to Sony/PE behind the scenes.	Expect Leaks: "Square Enix considering strategic options."
5. The Checkmate	Raised stake to 21%+. Threatened to fire directors at AGM.	PENDING. Needs ~4-5% more.	The June 2026 Showdown.
6. The Exit	Fuji Soft forced to sell ($4B+). 3DIP cashed out.	The Goal. Sale of Square Enix.	--

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Capcom or Shift Up

 

[Baki]

Capcom or Shift Up

Putting aside the fact that ShiftUp doesn't have the money ($7B). A Korean company will have issues with regulators and Square Enix management willing to sell to them. Capcom doesn't have the money ($7B), so would need to consider debt that's equivalent to 70% of the company or an all stock transaction that 3DIP would not want.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

They could sell off their IPs separately. Yoko Taro + Nierverse at Shift Up is a combo that needs to happen.

 

[StereoVsn]

Well, this sucks. Locking down SE games to Sony consoles at least for a year if not longer is not good.

And if another company buys them, SE might get split up and sold off in pieces.

 

[Baki]

They could sell off their IPs separately. Yoko Taro + Nierverse at Shift Up is a combo that needs to happen.

That would be gutting the company in a weird way. Activist investor has put about $1.2B into Square Enix so far, they probably need about $1.6B to be happy. That's not happening through dividends or share buy backs.