It might surprise you to learn that Sony, the company behind the PlayStation line of game consoles, had a huge stake in Square-Enix, the world’s most well-known game developer. They owned 9.52 million shares of the company, which is kind of nuts. A recent Japanese news release, translated by The Wall Street Journal, has stated that Sony will be unloading every single share then own for the net worth of ¥4.8 billion yen ($47 million).
It’s not completely clear why Sony held a whopping 8.2 percent of Square-Enix shares, however, this does shed some light on Square’s decisions to make Final Fantasy an exclusive Sony platform for so long. Both Sony and Square-Enix have decided to change the way they operate in order to boost efficiency and profitability. Sony will be selling two major office buildings, has laid off thousands of employees, and has even sold off its entire PC division. Meanwhile, Square-Enix has closed its Square-Enix India chapter and has announced that they will be attempting to appeal to international markets far less than they were before.
Source: The Wall Street Journal