Recently, Japanese game developer Square Enix has carried out major layoffs at its Western studios. It is reported that the hardest hit area of the layoffs is the British office.In the past few days, @TheReunionVII has been tracking some laid off employees and found that many of them are "awakened" employees.The promoter @TheReunionVII judged from this that this was a targeted layoff and a surgical self-rescue.
The laid off employees are as follows:
Niralee Modha, the marketing head who infamously gave "Dragon Quest III HD Remastered Edition" an A/B body classification
Anne-Lou Grobois-Favreau, Global Brand Manager, External Studios, Square Enix
Square Enix Narrative Designer Rhianne Gorman-Murphy
Tomosuke Haruguchi, localization project manager of the Japanese branch, once said: "They will consider overseas culture and trends, and even consult with the development team to change the character appearance and game content."
Square Enix Chief Publishing Officer and Western Division Head John Heinecke Officially Resigns Ahead of Wave of Layoffs
Ben Starr, voice actor of Final Fantasy XVI and Expedition 33, global brand manager and celebrity mentor for advocacy organization Limit Break
Sandra Chau, Head of Global Campaigns and Senior Marketing Manager, Square Enix
Most of the layoffs in the UK office seem to be related to Life is Strange, Outriders and Just Cause. Is this the end of the Life is Strange series? William Beecham, who has been the design director for 16 years, and Lucy Hale, who has been the head of TikTok for Life is Strange for seven years, have both been laid off.
Final Fantasy 14 project manager Mizuho Kondo has left Square Enix after 14 years.She was the key communicator for the Final Fantasy XIV project's marketing, community, PR, and Japanese translation, reporting directly to John Heineke, head of Western leadership.
Hina Akiyama, the Japanese-English interpreter and translator at Square Enix's Western division, has been fired.She is responsible for translating internal and external communications between the two divisions, as well as media interviews
Linda, a senior QA (quality assurance) manager, was recently laid off after 10 years at Square Enix, where she worked on Life is Strange and Marvel games.
Square Enix laid off two public relations directors: one is Ryan Arbogast, who has worked at Blizzard for 14 years and is now SE's senior public relations director; the other is public relations director Emily Shoji, who has worked at SE for 15 years.SE seems to be laying off people directly responsible for communication and feedback.
In response to this wave of purges, some foreign netizens calmly believe that it may only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, because "Dragon Quest 7: Remake" still harmonizes the characters designed by Akira Toriyama.
