A few months ago Square Enix announced it’s purchase and take over of the UK-based Publisher – Eidos. Since then, there have been fears as to how Square Enix will adapt its newly acquired company and whether or not it will keep things open.

Square Enix have now announced their European prescence as Square Enix Europe; and the London office that used to house Eidos will remain open as it takes charge of UK, French and German sales and marketing.

Developers such as Square Enix London Studios, Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics, among others, will also remain active for the time being and Square Enix Europe CEO – Phil Rogers – is already excited for the future:

We have a formidable product-line up which truly showcases the diversity of our exceptional gaming brands

There have been ‘cuts’, however. Square Enix, as a whole, have reduced the number of staff by up to 10%, but, speaking with gi.biz, Global President – Yoici Wada – has reassured that this was not just down to the acquisition of Eidos; it was part of the company’s ‘ongoing routine’.

With Batman: Arkham Asylum recieving critical acclaim and selling very well, the newly formed company is already seeing success.

Whilst other publishers are withdrawing their interest in new IP, Square Enix have been one of the most vocal companies when it comes to supporting new IP. Wada explains:

It’s how we want to develop and nurture new IPs – we want to work on them very carefully and thoroughly, which doesn’t necessarily mean just increasing the number of people. We won’t blindly launch new IPs, but we’ll take time with each one so that they can be successful…

As an entertainment company the business won’t be viable if we don’t continue to nurture new IPs – but we don’t need to come up with something that’s dramatically new for the existing franchises, because we already have fans for those. If we carefully evolve them, that should be sufficient.

Yoici Wada is particularly excited about E3 2010 where Square Enix will, for the first time, display both company’s future titles under one massive banner.

So, with Eidos under it’s wing and everything now in place, will we see Square Enix become an even more powerful name in the industry? Obviously, people can promise the world, but the proof is in the pudding. I hope their stance on new IP is one that will stay and I hope we see a few sequels to the games that we already love; I’m looking at you Batman and Lara.

Source: Gi.Biz