What are Square Enix working on - A look at their studios
Square Enix is one of the largest publishers in the world, they have some of the biggest series in their stable of games and while some get more time in the spotlight than others, there is no denying at just how much they develop, year on year.
2022 could be a massive year for the company, with up to 3 new Final Fantasy titles released, two new Dragon Quest games and then a slew of other titles to boot. So without delay, let’s see if we can work out, who is doing what.
Creative Business Unit I
Series known to them: Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts series, SaGa series
2021 was a bit of a quiet year for this group, well outside of Final Fantasy 7 Remake hitting PlayStation 5 and then PC at the very end of the year. Of course, they also released this little game called Neo: The World Ends With You, making a quite a few long time fans very happy.
2022 is a bit more of a mystery, we know that the team is working on the second half of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, or at least the next portion of it, but odds of it releasing this year are slim. There is also Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, that mobile adaptation of the series, that keeps the chunky look of the original, but adds in a lot of modern touches. Oh also, Switch players, at least in other countries, are going to get Kingdom Hearts titles via the Cloud, so that is something. While not being developed by the group, they are overseeing the development of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and Star Ocean: The Divine Force, both of which are due out this year.
Creative Business Unit II
Series known to them: Dragon Quest series, Nier series, Bravely series
2021 saw this group see the release of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... and Bravely Default II, but while they are known for those series, as listed above, they are perhaps better know for another one. We did see a mobile game around Dragon Quest release in Japan, it hasn’t come to the west yet though.
2022 could be a massive year for Dragon Quest, we know that the group is working on Dragon Quest 12 and while the logo looks great, don’t expect that to be out this year, or even next. Instead the focus should be on Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, that game that combines everything about Dragon Quest 3, but with the visuals of Octopath Traveller. The other Dragon Quest game we know is coming is Dragon Quest Treasures and will feature fan favourite Erik, but both this one and the former are not yet locked in for this year, though it is very likely. Before those are released though, Triangle Strategy is coming out this March from them, so there is that to look forward to.
Creative Business Unit III
Series known to them: Dragon Quest Builders series, Final Fantasy MMO series
2021 ended on a massive high note for this group, they released Endwalker, the latest expansion for the MMO Final Fantasy 14, it was so popular Square Enix suspended sales of the game, in order to allow folks the chance to get in.
2022 could be an even bigger year though, as this is the group that is seeing the creation of two big Final Fantasy games, with the one they are actively creating being Final Fantasy 16. There is no word on if this one will be releasing this year, last reports did have all the English audio recorded, which is usually a good sign of progress, but for this game, they recorded it before the Japanese track.
Creative Business Unit IV
Series known to them: Mana series, Million Arthur series
2021 saw this group release a few remastered titles, SaGa Frontier and Legend of Mana, both of which appeased long time fans, they also brought Actraiser: Renaissance to players, along with the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series, so year, lot of those.
2022 will see the group release the remaining Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster entries, but beyond that, we know very little for their plans, there are many who are hoping though, that the Pixel Remaster series comes to Switch or maybe touches other games from years gone past.
Crystal Dynamics
Series known to them: Tomb Raider series, Marvel’s Avengers
2021 saw Crystal Dynamics continue their work on their Avengers game and while that may not have been a game for everyone, there is no denying the continuous stream of content was welcome.
2022 is going to be slightly different, mostly because the team have been tapped to help develop the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot with The Initiative, but beyond that, we don’t know what their content plans for the Avengers game is, or if they have anything else in the works.
Eidos Montréal
Series known to them: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Deus Ex series
Given that 2021 saw the team ship Guardians of the Galaxy in October, the odds of them having a new game ready to go this year are slim at best, but stranger things have happened.
Eidos Shanghai
Series known to them: Multiple
While they do game development, its more as a support studio for other companies within the Square Enix umbrella, so at this time, they don’t have anything new happening.
Square Enix Montréal
Series known to them: Go series
A few years ago the team here started to create a bunch of titles in what we now know as the Go series, Hitman, Deus Ex and Tomb Raider all got a look in and they were great puzzle games.
We know that the team is currently working on the new Hitman Sniper game for mobile and there are whispers of a new Space Invaders game being made here, but there are few confirmed details about it. While we should see the former in 2022, the latter may not show up
Tokyo RPG Factory
Series known to them: I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear, Oninaki
Having released three games, within three years, it is not surprising that Tokyo RPG Factory has been quiet for the past few years, the problem is that their most recent release, Oninaki, didn’t set the sales charts on fire and since then, they have been quietly working on whatever is next from them.
Given that this year will be the third year since their last release, it would make sense we hear something from them this year, if it releases or not, that is something else, but we should hear from them at least.
Luminous Productions
Series known to them: Forspoken
As one of the newer groups, this team is making Forspoken, which has been dated for this May. As such, don’t expect them to be working on anything other than that title.
Square Enix London Mobile
Series known to them: Tomb Raider Reloaded
While not main developers themselves, this group does look at supporting other studios, or at least they will, as 2022 will see their first title release, Tomb Raider Reloaded.
PlayOnline
Series known to them: Final Fantasy XI
What once was a vibrant system, designed to make the online titles of Square Enix work for many, PlayOnline have slowly been fading away, as the system they created couldn’t change to meet the demands of modern games, whilst keeping the ones they had, going.
The only title still making use of it is Final Fantasy XI and when that game does, this division will like shutter as well, so don’t expect anything new from them.
Taito Corporation
Series known to them: Space Invaders series, Bubble Bobble series
While a massive name in the early days of gaming, lately the name is more aligned with retro collections or remasters and while 2021 did see them step into a new reality with Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey, they were not the developer of the game.
2022 has them working on that rumoured Space Invaders game with Square Enix Montreal, but again there are very few confirmed details about that.
So there you go, what Square Enix’s studios have cooking, or what we think they do. We didn’t list any of their partnership developers here like Avalanche, or the deal they made with Forever Entertainment, both of which could have titles show up in 2022.
What do you think? Did we guess right, wrong, some combination of the two?
