Grave Gamer News & Views — final fantasy

Chocobo and Moogle Love

by hinoraito

Sony’s Selling All of its Square Enix Shares to Return to Profitability

But, hey, the PlayStation 4 is still killing it

Japanese juggernaut Sony, most famous for the globally known PlayStation brand – and for also making, I don’t know, headphones and a few movies now and again – is dumping its entire financial stake out of publisher Square Enix.

Sony holds 9.52 million shares in Square Enix, a sensual tryst that began in the early 2000’s. Once upon a time ago, before the word “timed” preceded “exclusivity,” Square’s Final Fantasy brand was nearly synonymous with PlayStation, especially helping Sony claim the dominance in Japanese households it still enjoys to this very day.

Sony’s equity is priced at ¥4.8 billion yen, or $47 million. The deal is expected to be closed as soon as tomorrow. The decision is the next of several moves the company has made to return itself to profitability. Since 2014 began, Sony has laid off thousands of workers, sold two corporate offices, and has even axed its PC division.

On the upside, the Sony PlayStation 4 has reveled in sales success, having sold 7 million units worldwide since launch, surpassing its next-gen competition, the Xbox One, by a slim margin. As an aside, I am currently a happy member of that 7 million club and I sing my PS4 into a gentle sleep, nightly.

Final Fantasy XV - TGS Trailer

Does returning Final Fantasy to its former throne mean ditching its turn-based legacy? The few glimpses we’ve gotten into the reformulated Versus XIII – now promoted to a main series title – has been stupidly impressive.

Final Fantasyalways had a breathtaking scope about it, but the view just went panoramic. It’s like Square Enix finally decided to let the player...

Black Mage by Joonas Lantta

So something rather intriguing happened this week.  It would appear this new fangled “next-gen” officially kicked off.  Well, unless you count the Wii U next-gen, which you’re completely allowed to (inversely, I get to call you wrong).  That’s right, Sony finally ripped off the wraps on the PlayStation 4.  Fast, socially integrated, the ability to stream games, two separate cup-holders – Sony’s future proofing their brand and the attempt is, surprisingly, not a laughable disaster.

You can find my initial reaction to the hardware’s specs hereabouts, but we’re dialing back the technophilia today and also focusing on something more important than even a brand new, highfalutin’, Facebookin’ console: the games.

Hit the jump to check out what’s in store for gamers next generation; a generation right around the corner.  Oh, and welcome back to the Roundup.