Two gaming companies will be coming together to be one. It was announced that Square Enix and Luminous would be merging companies. Square Enix Holdings who own subsidiary owns Luminous Productions will now be merging the companies. The news came to light as both companies issued statements regarding the merger. Square Enix made a statement on their website stating that “The merger is part of the Company’s efforts to further bolster the competitive prowess of the Group’s development studios, a goal set forth under its current medium-term business strategy.” And Luminous Productions had the following to say.

An Update from Luminous Productions pic.twitter.com/fbDENflRhj

— Luminous Productions (@LumiPro_EN) February 28, 2023

Luminous Productions is the development team behind Forspoken and Final Fantasy XV. This merger could mean better support for both teams. Square Enix owns many Intellectual Properties such as the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. Luminous Productions does not own as much as Square Enix but it has much to bring to the table. The company has the capabilities of developing software and technical expertise that will further bring HD gaming to players in future projects. Square Enix currently uses Unreal Engine 5 for its games, such as Kingdom Hearts 4.

With this merger, Square Enix will now have the capability of possibly using a new engine to create its games in the future.  This would be made possible with the team from Luminous Productions who have the capability of developing new engines. Despite the mixed criticism that Forspoken has received lately, it is worth noting that many players stated that they enjoyed how well the combat system was as well as the graphics for the environment. This type of innovation would be most beneficial to Square Enix in terms of better quality and competing against other companies. And it would allow Luminous Productions to work at their fullest potential with a giant company overseeing their needs. With this type of innovation,  that means we could be seeing future Intellectual Property created with an engine outside of Unreal Engine. It’s possible later in the foreseeable future, Square Enix games will be developed on a new engine that brings their games into a whole new light. The merger will take effect this year on May 1st.