Square Enix’s non-committal nod to shareholders is not them promising a big comeback of turn-based RPGs, nor praise of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 

Recent headlines from English-speaking outlets have claimed that “Square Enix is planning to make more turn-based RPGs,” citing comments made at the company’s recent shareholder meeting. However, this is a bit of a misunderstanding (likely caused by the language barrier), as what was actually said – according to our Japanese editorial staff – was a measured and corporate response, not a declaration of the company’s future development plans. 

The misunderstanding originates from a post made by a Japanese journalist who attended Square Enix’s 45^th annual shareholders’ meeting, held on June 25. During the meeting, they voiced a request that Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles be released more regularly, ideally alternating releases year by year. They emphasized that this wouldn’t be about sacrificing quality, but about avoiding the extremes of past leadership: under president Wada (where too few major titles were released in the name of quality), and under president Matsuda (who pushed out too many, sometimes low-quality titles for the sake of quantity). 

As part of that feedback, the reporter also expressed hope that future Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest entries would return to turn-based combat, citing both the direction shift seen in Final Fantasy XVI and the success of Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. 

In response, Square Enix was cautious and noncommittal, in a manner typical of public shareholder meetings. Its executives acknowledged the feedback and reiterated that the next three years, as laid out in the company’s medium-term business plan, are about “delivering truly entertaining games to players.” They added that after this period, Square Enix does intend to ramp up its output again, including mid-sized titles. As for turn-based RPGs, they comment that they recognize them as “a genre that represents Square Enix’s origins,” and that they are “committed to continuing to deliver games” in that category – in other words, business as usual. Regarding Expedition 33, Square Enix executives simply state that they are aware of it. 

This is not to say that Square Enix won’t make more turn-based RPGs or doesn’t have any such projects in view, but this particular statement from them did not carry such meaning, as it was simply an acknowledgment of the feedback.