Historic Japanese studio Square Enix has announced a merger with its subsidiary Luminous Productions, which was behind the development of the open-world RPG Forspoken. This merger will take effect on May 1, 2023, which according to the official announcement should benefit both teams by strengthening their position in the gaming market.
The news comes directly from Square Enix, which said in a statement that the operation will allow Luminous to work on its many intellectual properties that have already released a large number of AAA games. For the company behind the Final Fantasy saga, this is a medium-term strategy that should turn a profit thanks to the power of Luminous developers and technical expertise in the field of game engines.
The reasons most likely relate to the recent disappointing launch of Forspoken. It is also the second game from the studio founded by Hajime Tabata in 2018 to face challenging development on a creative level. Already Final Fantasy XV, formerly Versus XIII, was changing hands, creating a title that eventually led to director Hajime Tabata’s firing from the company and the cancellation of the latest DLCs. Similarly, due to internal politics, Forspoken’s storyline was completely rewritten when production had already begun. It is no coincidence that one of the most criticized components of both games is the narrative.
Let’s hope that since the studio’s new line-up has yet to be announced, the production of the Luminous title will be less problematic.
Check all Game News here: Gaming Ideology
