Square Enix announces mass layoffs in the US and UK, plans to focus on development in Japan

Square Enix has announced a major wave of layoffs impacting over 100 employees across its US and UK operations as part of a broader "Overseas Structural Reform" strategy, which will see most of its game development efforts take place in Japan.

The details:

• As reported by IGN, internal sources have revealed that approximately 137 jobs are at risk in the UK, with an unknown number of US-based roles also affected. It’s said that employees were informed of the restructuring by Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu in a video call this week, with a now-public presentation slide regarding its business plan confirming that the company has made the decision to “close overseas development studios and shift toward consolidating development functions in Japan.”
• Affected employees have since taken to social media to confirm the news, with cuts reported across the company’s marketing, publishing, QA, IT, community management, player support, and sales teams.
• With its sale of multiple studios such as Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montreal, and Eidos-Montreal, as well as IPs including Tomb Raider to Embracer Group last year, Square Enix’s portfolio outside of Japan has begun to shrink massively. Currently, Just Cause, Life is Strange, and Outriders are its only notable IPs primarily developed by its global studios, with the likes of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts being worked on exclusively by its teams in Tokyo and Osaka.
• This represents the second consecutive year of layoffs targeting Square Enix’s international teams and comes shortly after it stated that there are plans to automate up to 70% of its quality assurance work using AI by the end of 2027. Given the job cuts and continued push towards generative AI, it’s likely that we’ll see even more losses going forward.