Former Square Enix business director Jacob Navok says the company missed a huge opportunity by not following the free-to-play live service model that made Genshin Impact a global success. Navok said Square Enix “failed to capture a new generation of players” because it stayed focused on traditional full-price game releases while the industry moved toward free-to-play ecosystems built around long-term engagement. He believes the company should create “modern ongoing free-to-play games” and explore bigger crossover ideas, including collaborations between Final Fantasy and K-Pop. Navok also said “excessive internal bureaucracy” slowed the company and made it harder to adapt to changes in the gaming industry.

Square Enix has quietly removed the free demo versions of several Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX titles from the U.S. Nintendo Switch eShop without any official explanation. The removed demos are: -KINGDOM HEARTS - HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX - Cloud Version -KINGDOM HEARTS HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - Cloud Version -KINGDOM HEARTS III + Re Mind The full paid cloud versions remain available for purchase on the U.S. eShop. However, the demos are still available in other regions, including parts of Europe and the UK. Neither Square Enix nor Nintendo has commented on the removals. Some fans believe this could hint at future native, non-cloud versions of the games

Square Enix is adding Steam Cloud support to more of its older PC games, making it easier for players to sync save files across devices. Recently updated games include: Daikatana, Anachronox, Mini Ninjas, Supreme Commander, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, and Supreme Commander 2. Older titles like Sleeping Dogs and Just Cause 3 also received Steam Cloud support earlier. Square Enix appears to be updating its classic PC catalog gradually, so more older games may receive Steam Cloud support in the future.

Square Enix is developing a new framework to accelerate releases for its major game IPs, including Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. In its latest medium-term business plan, the company reported steady progress toward a system enabling more regular new title launches for key franchises. So this “framework” is a core piece of their “Square Enix Reboots and Awakens” strategy: >Reorganizing studios (Japan and overseas) for better pipeline management, talent mobility, and resource concentration. >Shifting from “quantity to quality” they’ve reviewed all projects, discontinued some, and poured more resources into the strongest ones. >Multi-platform push, expanding to PC, new consoles like Switch 2, China, etc., to maximize IP value faster. >Efficiency tools, including AI R&D for development processes The plan is to avoid long waits between major new releases. Fans will get new games on a more regular schedule after the current three-year plan.

Square Enix has announced a new official picture book prequel for Final Fantasy IX called Vivi and Grandpa’s Memories for the Sky. The 44-page book will be released on May 19. It was written by the original game’s event director Kazuhiko Aoki with illustrations by character designer Toshiyuki Itahana. It tells the story of young Vivi from his first meeting with Grandpa Quan after getting caught on a fishing line and learning magic, up to the events before he leaves for Alexandria, and connects to the upcoming Final Fantasy IX Magic: The Gathering set.

Former Square Enix executive Jacob Navok has said that Sony appears to have little faith in Bungie’s Marathon due to the very limited marketing push behind the game. Navok wrote: “Sony owns a ton of digital real estate on the Playstation dashboards to push Marathon. It’s lack of marketing push to support the numbers speaks to the lack of faith from the platform holder.” He added: “GAAS games don’t grow organically. The dirty secret is most of them grow through marketing and UA spend. Sony has left this one for dead.” Marathon launched on March 5, 2026 and reached a peak of approximately 88,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch but has since declined sharply