Square Enix and Eidos foster "distinct qualities" of subsidiary studios

Square Enix Japan and its western arm are a perfect fusion, says CEO Yosuke Matsuda.

Square Enix has a number of western studios and western-developed titles in its catalogues, and almost all of these can be traced directly back to its 2009 acquisition of Eidos.

According to Matsuda, the two companies now exist in perfect harmony despite working to maintain the unique identity of their component studios.

"It's been six years, and at our booth as well as our conference, you can see we are one at this point, essentially," he told GamesIndustry.

Matsuda said he and Phil Rogers, Square Enix's western CEO, have a weekly conference call with studio leaders from all over the world.

"In terms of the treatment and how we're engaged with those studios, it's not any different from how we engage with the Tokyo development staff," he said.

"And one thing about our company is that a lot of these studios - not just Eidos but all of our Tokyo studios - they all have distinct qualities and are unique in their own ways. And we try to draw on those qualities.

"In that sense, ever since the Square Enix merger, we've tried to keep our focus on allowing to draw out those personalities and qualities that are unique to each of these studios. And that's probably reflected in these titles we're seeing."

Square Enix's return to the E3 stage this year didn't have the showmanship we've come to expect from major publishers, but what it did have was a great line-up of games - a new Hitman, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Just Cause 3, Kingdom Hearts 3, a new Nier sequel, the latest Final Fantasy 14 expansion, Final Fantasy 7 remake and even a new Star Ocean.

That's a pretty great spread, and I've only just noticed that Final Fantasy 15 didn't show up - maybe we'll see it at gamescom in August, although you can definitely expect it to go big at Tokyo Game Show in September.

Image via Gamespot.