Enix
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Documents about Enix
How Final Fantasy Went Old-School Again
Final Fantasy Resonance, released in 2026, represents a strategic pivot for Square Enix, reimagining the 2015 mobile gacha game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a traditional, premium console and PC role-playing game.
- Square Enix released Final Fantasy Resonance in 2026 as a premium console and PC reimagining of the 2015 mobile gacha title Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.
- The project successfully transitioned the mobile game into a traditional JRPG by removing free-to-play gacha mechanics and utilizing the company's signature HD-2D art style.
- The game achieved early commercial traction with over 26,000 concurrent players on Steam shortly after its launch.
Gamescom reaction, Clash Royale drama, Rovio's studio closure, Google's AI hypeman and more
The mobile games industry is currently experiencing a significant shift in market dominance, as evidenced by the recent Gamescom event in Cologne.
- Supercell’s internal review of Clash Royale revealed that aggressive changes, such as removing the season shop, caused significant community backlash due to poor communication and lack of transparency.
- Rovio is closing its Copenhagen studio and cancelling the hybrid card-action game Sonic Blitz, impacting approximately 20 employees.
- Gamescom 2024 was dominated by Chinese publishers like Tencent, Hoyoverse, and NetEase, who are successfully launching cross-platform titles on mobile, PC, and console simultaneously, while Western studios increasingly lag in mobile integration.
The 10 Games I've Played Most On Steam
This analysis examines the personal gaming habits of a prominent industry commentator, focusing on the ten most-played titles on their Steam account.
- Larian Studios' titles Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin II are highlighted for their high-quality, non-filler combat systems and their ability to 'say yes to the player' through deep, interlocking mechanics.
- CrossCode, a Zelda-like RPG, is noted for its brilliant concept of an MMO-within-a-game, earning 155.1 hours of playtime across multiple playthroughs.
- Hundred Line Last Defense Academy is described as an extreme example of a slow-burn narrative, where the initial 30-hour playthrough functions primarily as a prologue to the actual game.
King and the Xbox cuts, Meta's 'TikTok for games', alot of Scopely news, game closures, MTG, more
The mobile games industry is currently navigating a period of significant structural realignment, marked by major workforce reductions at Xbox and a strategic pivot toward mobile-first engagement.
- Microsoft is cutting 3,200 jobs across its Xbox division, with 1,600 layoffs announced immediately and the remainder occurring throughout the financial year, primarily impacting PC and console operations.
- Meta has soft-launched 'Pocket,' an app that utilizes AI prompts to generate a TikTok-style feed of interactive mini-games, marking the company's latest attempt to enter the 'TikTok for games' market.
- Pokémon Go has generated approximately $6.37 billion in lifetime in-app purchase revenue over its 10-year history, with 39% of revenue originating from the U.S. and 30% from Japan.
The Secret Behind The Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy's Success
The rapid development of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, specifically the three-year production cycle for the upcoming third installment, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, serves as a case study in the critical importance of staff retention and team stability within the video game industry.
- The Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy achieved a three-year production cycle for its third installment by maintaining a 95% staff retention rate from the previous title.
- Retention of development staff grew from 80–90% between the 2020 release of Remake and the 2024 release of Rebirth to 95% for the final installment, Revelation.
- High team continuity allowed Square Enix to bypass traditional team-building phases and leverage established communication shorthands, effectively mitigating friction between artistic goals and technical optimization.
Supercell reboots Mo.co, Fortnite is back on iOS, Nintendo's next mobile game, Embracer, Wooga, more
The mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of strategic pivots, legal challenges, and financial recalibration.
- Embracer Group has written down the value of its mobile division—comprising CrazyLabs, A Thinking Ape, and Deca—by $192.4 million following a 57% year-on-year decline in net sales to $244.9 million.
- Supercell has rebooted its monster-hunting title 'Mo.co' with a new season pass structure, though the game continues to rely exclusively on cosmetic monetization, raising concerns about its long-term viability compared to the discontinued 'Squad Busters'.
- Fortnite has returned to the iOS App Store worldwide (excluding Australia), a move Epic Games is using to force transparency regarding Apple's commission structures and fee-related legal challenges.
The Vampire Survivors developer is opening studios and making over 15 projects
Poncle, the developer behind the hit title Vampire Survivors, is currently undergoing a significant strategic expansion.
- Poncle is scaling from a solo-developer origin into a decentralized federation of small, agile teams currently managing over 15 active development projects.
- The studio is expanding its physical footprint beyond the United Kingdom by establishing new offices in Italy and Japan to facilitate better collaboration with local stakeholders.
- Vampire Survivors has reached a global player base of over 27 million, providing the resources to fund a diverse portfolio of new genre experiments, including card games.
Supercell faces Clash Royale controversy and banks on innovation | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The global mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of significant structural transition, characterized by a shift away from incremental optimization toward radical innovation.
- Supercell reported a 4% year-over-year revenue decline to €2.65 billion in 2025, though EBITDA rose 6% to €932 million.
- Clash Royale experienced a significant revenue surge in 2025, but a controversy emerged after CEO Ilkka Paananen failed to credit content creators for the game's growth in his annual innovation blog post.
- Square Enix's digital entertainment segment, which includes mobile and PC browser games, saw a 24% year-over-year decline in sales over the first nine months of the fiscal year.
TWIG #357 Royal Match $200M Splurge, Arc Raiders AI Controversy and AI Duolingo's Broken Streak,
The current landscape of the interactive entertainment industry is defined by intense scrutiny over monetization strategies, corporate restructuring, and the integration of emerging technologies.
- The mobile puzzle market is facing diminishing returns, as evidenced by Dream Games' Royal Kingdom failing to see proportional growth despite massive user acquisition spending.
- The court rejected the Epic Games and Google settlement, signaling continued legal scrutiny over app store fee structures and concerns that such agreements stifle independent competition.
- Square Enix is centralizing operations through significant layoffs in its Western divisions, a move that risks weakening the cultural expertise required for effective product localization.
What will stop the Steam Machine failing again? And how did Helldivers 2's Xbox launch go?
The current landscape of the video game industry is defined by a tension between aggressive corporate consolidation and the necessity for studios to maintain distinct creative identities.
- The video game industry is shifting away from aggressive consolidation toward sustainable growth, evidenced by Square Enix’s divestment from Western studios as firms refocus on core competencies.
- Creative vision remains a viable market strategy, as demonstrated by the success of multiplayer-focused titles like Helldivers 2 despite a crowded and risk-averse landscape.
- High-profile release delays have created a temporary market reprieve, providing a strategic window for smaller developers to capture market share from major publishers.
Gaming Meets Beauty: Inside Henkel’s First Brand Activation
Henkel’s recent collaboration between its Schwarzkopf got2b hair color line and the Final Fantasy XIV franchise serves as a strategic case study for non-endemic brands entering the gaming space.
- Henkel’s Schwarzkopf got2b brand entered the gaming market by partnering with Square Enix to launch limited-edition hair colors inspired by Final Fantasy XIV character aesthetics.
- The campaign strategy focused on bridging physical self-expression with virtual identity, targeting the gaming community’s emphasis on character customization.
- Success was driven by a hybrid model that combined offline product launches with strategic online influencer partnerships to reach the target demographic.
Week in Mobile Games E54 - Fortnite’s Epic return and the challenges of launching a game in 2025
The mobile gaming landscape is currently defined by a volatile intersection of regulatory shifts and extreme market saturation.
- Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket reached $1 billion in gross player spending in 204 days, outpacing Pokémon Go, which took 282 days to achieve the same milestone.
- Epic Games is currently blocked from releasing Fortnite on the US App Store, as the company refuses to exclude the US market from its update while Apple maintains restrictions on alternative payment links.
- Industry experts agree that launching a mobile game in 2025 is increasingly difficult due to heightened competition and the dominance of established titles that capture the majority of player time.