Square Enix President Matsuda Will Be Replaced in June 2023

Current Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda will soon be the former President. A memo published by the Square Enix Board of Directors said that Matsuda will be replaced as President and Representative Director of Square Enix. You can see the full memo online.

The memo is titled “Notification of Changes in the Representative Director of the Company and a Consolidated Subsidiary.” In this case the “Company” referred to is Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd, the multinational holding company that represents Square Enix and its various subsidiaries. The “Consolidated Subsidiary” is Square Enix, Co., Ltd. The current Square Enix President and Representative Director, Yosuke Matsuda, will be replaced by Takashi Kiryu. He is is a Board Member at Square Enix and former Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) for Square Enix Holdings, as well as Chairman of Square Enix China.

The changeover is still at the proposal stage, and will need shareholder approval. If approved, the replacement will be finalized at Square Enix’s 43rd Annual Shareholder’s meeting and its accompanying Board of Directors’ meeting. The meetings are scheduled for June 2023.

The memo also outlined the reason for the change, citing the need to “reshape the management team.” Here’s the full quote:

Under the rapid change of business environment surrounding the entertainment industry, the proposed change is intended to reshape the management team with the goal of adopting ever-evolving technological innovations and maximizing on the creativity of the Company’s group in order to deliver even greater entertainment to its customers around the world.

Yosuke Matsuda began his tenure as Square Enix President in 2013, when he replaced Yoichi Wada. Wada was the President of Square when it merged with Enix in 2003 to become Square Enix. During Matsuda’s time as president, Square Enix saw major restructuring and consolidation of Square Enix’s western studios. Eventually, the studios were sold in May 2022.

Matsuda also made headlines over the past couple of years for leading the company’s push into blockchain- and NFT-related business ventures. In his 2022 New Year’s Letter to shareholders, Matsuda expressed enthusiasm about NFTs, blockchain-based gaming, and “the Metaverse”, expressing the belief that the so-called “play-to-earn” gaming space could change how the economy of games worked globally. He reiterated Square Enix’s commitment to exploring the space as late as January 2023.