The president of Square Enix, Takashi Kiryu, has discussed the company’s future and its potential use of generative artificial intelligence in the annual New Year’s letter from the president. The letters often deal with the application of new technologies, with last year’s letter discussing the planned use of NFTs and the blockchain.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential implications had for some time largely been subjects of academic debate,” the letter states. Kiryu goes on to discuss the spread of generative AI, and its use outside of just text. “I believe that generative AI has the potential not only to reshape what we create, but also to fundamentally change the processes by which we create, including programming,” he continued.
“Since assuming the roles of president and representative director of SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS in June 2023, I have worked to reassess our entire Group,” Kiryu stated. “Customers, shareholders, investors, employees, and other stakeholders have generously shared their time and insights on numerous occasions to help me do so. These insights have assisted me in identifying the direction we should take to achieve further growth and in beginning to lay the groundwork to make that a reality.”
He then discusses plans to strengthen both their content development and publishing output. For content development, they plan to vet existing and future titles to ensure that they meet the expected standard of quality, and are optimizing their resource allocation to strengthen internal capabilities and standardize development.
In terms of publishing, they intend to improve global publishing by focusing on unique features of different markets. They are also working to shift away from physical publishing, promoting a greater emphasis on digital games. Finally, they aim to create structures that allow for a greater collaboration between the development and publishing teams.
The letter then turns again to the subject of AI. “We also intend to be aggressive in applying AI and other cutting-edge technologies to both our content development and our publishing functions,” it says. “In the short term, our goal will be to enhance our development productivity and achieve greater sophistication in our marketing efforts. In the longer term, we hope to leverage those technologies to create new forms of content for consumers, as we believe that technological innovation represents business opportunities.”
They are also not backing down from their commitment to the blockchain outlined in last year’s letter. “In terms of new business domains, we previously identified three focus investment fields, namely blockchain entertainment/Web 3.0, AI, and the cloud. Last year we redefined our overarching mission and goals for these three fields. We are currently working to modify our organizational structure and optimize our resource allocations to support these efforts,” the letter says.
“2024 will mark the starting point for our Group to achieve additional strides forward and further growth. We will articulate our new corporate strategy in the form of a Grand Design and devote ourselves to executing each of our initiatives. Never fearing change and always maintaining a challenger’s mindset, we will work together as one to drive our businesses forward,” Kiryu finishes.
It remains to be seen how Square Enix will specifically use AI in its titles going forward, but it is likely to cause some controversy, with companies like Valve discouraging AI use in games. Regardless, the company is still committed to using NFTs, so it is unlikely that they will back down from this.