3D Investment Partners, an infamously aggressive Singapore-based activist investment fund, has published a 100-page presentation highlighting issues in Square Enix’s management (as reported by BusinessWire). As a major shareholder of the game company (owning a 14.36% stake), 3D Investment is calling on other shareholders to join them in “sharing frank opinions” on Square Enix’s ongoing issues. Their purpose is to “pursue constructive dialogue” with the company’s leadership.
Given that 3D Investment Partners is known for being an “activist” investor (an investor who seeks to buy significant stakes in companies in order to influence how they are managed, often targeting underperforming or poorly managed companies), people have been curious about what moves they’ll make on Square Enix ever since they first started acquiring shares in April this year. At the time, 3D Investment said its purpose was “pure investment, and depending on circumstances, to offer advice or make significant proposals to management.” Now, it seems they’ve finally decided to make bolder moves towards influencing the company’s operations.
In the new announcement, the fund argues that despite being a national brand who owns world-class franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Square Enix has been facing stagnant revenue growth and weak profit margins over the past three years, especially compared to peers like Nintendo, Capcom, Bandai Namco and Konami.
3D Investment blames this on the underperformance of Square Enix’s console and mobile game sectors, as well as exceptionally large write-downs related to cancelled games. Interestingly, they also consider the company’s arcade and publishing sectors to be “non-synergistic” businesses that are ultimately pulling down the company’s value with lackluster performance.
Although Square Enix’s plan is to “Reboot” with its new mid-term strategy for fiscal years 2025 through 2027, 3D Investment implies this plan is insufficient and too vague. Some of the issues cited are a lack of a concrete vision for long-term recovery, low-balled improvement margins, and a lack of concrete execution plans or KPIs for measures meant to address the company’s problems.
It seems that 3D Investment already approached Square Enix’s CEO Takashi Kiryu with an analysis of these problems and proposal for improvements back in October 2025, but was not satisfied with the response (allegedly, they only got a brief email that insisted the current plan was adequate). As a result, they’ve turned to making things public and getting other shareholders on board, which is a common method activists use to lobby for their initiatives.
That’s not to say that Square Enix is obligated to listen. For example, Japanese mobile game giant GungHo has been facing similar pressure from activist investors, with major shareholder Strategic Capital repeatedly asking for the company to fire its CEO through scalding public announcements. On the other hand, GungHo has persistently rejected such proposals. How Square Enix’s responds to 3D Investment Partners’ initiatives remains to be seen.
If Square-Enix wants to improve profit margins? Stop printing their Switch 2 games on Lame Key Cards. No one wants these overpriced, glorified, reusable downloads codes in a box. Full game on cart or no sale. Reissue their Switch 2 games on proper carts and watch sales take off like a rocket.
They need a spread sheet to do what the real fans have been saying to do for fucking years. Now they need to get profits up?
. 🤣 They’ll be lucky if anyone saves their ass if it’s getting cooked like this.
How about this “activist” just leaves the running of the company to the CEO, and be happy with the money he’s making? Profits don’t always need to increase. Stagnant in this sense means you’re not losing any profit. Investors should just learn to keep their mouths shut.
These profit driven investors need to keep their paws off of creative ventures where art and entertainment are paramount. They can invest elsewhere if money is their only ambition.
3D Investment Partners sound like the typical corporate entity that doesn’t respect company culture or the things that company has done to make their IPs great and are looking to cash in on a hard won reputation that ends up hurting the IP and company long term. I hope Square Enix is able to resist their demands.
Square’s problem has been the same for years. They keep telling us what we want instead of listening to what we want
Dont need a 100 page report to tell them why they are losing money, western branch ruining them. Get woke go broke, simple universal fact.
As soon as I hear words like “real fans” come up in a conversation it feels like everything following it becomes immediately invalid, what exactly makes someone a “real fan”?
Honestly this situation reeks of entitlement, where people throw money at a company and that makes them experts on what those people do for a living from the comfort of their family home they got handed
XD it’s kind of silly
Parasite Eve revival is going to save Square Enix like how Capcom manage to do it with RE , it takes one decision to redeem the company mistakes and that falls on SE if they are smart enough to execute such decision