Square Enix CEO Declares Commitment To Single-Player Games Despite GaaS Focus

Several months ago, Square Enix announced that it would start putting greater emphasis on the concept of Games as a Service (GaaS) with its future games. This caused many fans of the company’s games to worry that their favorite franchises such as the Final Fantasy series will become a loot box-infested monstrosity similar to Star Wars Battlefront. However, Square’s CEO recently reaffirmed the company’s commitment to single-player games.

Speaking to Metro, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda said that the concept of GaaS has become twisted. The term apparently has a wide range of meaning and it doesn’t necessarily only involve microtransactions. In fact, fans of single-player games have been experiencing GaaS for years now in the form of additional content; better known as DLC and expansions.

"Recently people have been discussing loot boxes and people not using that properly, I think that’s all linked to this bad perception people have to the words ‘games as a service’. But really, the way we’re looking at it, what it boils down to is… that idea of keeping people engaged with our games and enjoying them for longer periods of time,” Matsuda said.

"The way we use that expression, really… the whole idea, for a single-player game particularly, is the idea that you have the game released and you keep adding more content to keep the players engaged and enjoying the game. And that helps to make it more of a full experience, and that brings in more players to the original game. That’s the rough approach we take to the idea, and that’s why we described games as a service in that sense."

As PC Gamer notes, this reaffirming of its commitment to single player games is a huge relief for fans of the company’s many properties. Square is known for providing many of the most incredible story-driven games in the industry and has gathered a sizeable number of dedicated followers, as a result.