Square Enix is looking to build and acquire new studios despite selling several off last week.

Part of the publisher's medium-term business strategy, as revealed in its latest financial earnings report, is to "boost game development capabilities by establishing new studios, mergers and acquisitions, etc."

Square Enix sold Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal to Embracer Group for $300 million last week in a deal which included several IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and more.

Though it seems unusual that Square Enix would shed a number of studios and IPs and immediately pursue others, it defines a goal in its report as "reshaping [its] digital entertainment portfolio".

It's under this objective that Square Enix plans to establish and acquire more studios, alongside the more general desire to "cultivate robust IP (including [the] creation of new IP)".

Purchasing game developers outright has certainly been a popular strategy in the video game industry as of late, with Microsoft leading an acquisitions race headlined by its colossal $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Both Xbox and PlayStation are hiring directors to lead their acquisition strategies and it would appear that Square Enix wants to pursue a similar route.

Sony purchased Bungie in February for $3.6 billion and in the last year has also acquired several other studios including Bluepoint and Housemarque. It has no intentions of slowing down, as Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said earlier in April that it already has more purchases planned.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard, on the other hand, will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Square Enix is looking to build and acquire new studios despite selling several off last week.

Part of the publisher's medium-term business strategy, as revealed in its latest financial earnings report, is to "boost game development capabilities by establishing new studios, mergers and acquisitions, etc."

Square Enix sold Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal to Embracer Group for $300 million last week in a deal which included several IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and more.

Though it seems unusual that Square Enix would shed a number of studios and IPs and immediately pursue others, it defines a goal in its report as "reshaping [its] digital entertainment portfolio".

It's under this objective that Square Enix plans to establish and acquire more studios, alongside the more general desire to "cultivate robust IP (including [the] creation of new IP)".

Purchasing game developers outright has certainly been a popular strategy in the video game industry as of late, with Microsoft leading an acquisitions race headlined by its colossal $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Both Xbox and PlayStation are hiring directors to lead their acquisition strategies and it would appear that Square Enix wants to pursue a similar route.

Sony purchased Bungie in February for $3.6 billion and in the last year has also acquired several other studios including Bluepoint and Housemarque. It has no intentions of slowing down, as Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said earlier in April that it already has more purchases planned.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard, on the other hand, will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Epic Games is releasing an "open to everybody" Unreal Engine 5 editor for Fortnite, and will let creators monetize what they make.

CEO Tim Sweeney told Fast Company that around half of players' time in Fortnite is spent playing other users' content and Epic Games wants to make that experience more fully-fledged through the editor, and the ability to monetize that custom content.

"We’re going to release the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, the full capabilities that you’ve seen [in Unreal Engine] opened up so that anybody can build very high-quality game content and code," Sweeney said, "and deploy it into Fortnite without having to do a deal with us. It’s open to everybody."

He added that it's Epic Games' aim to make Fortnite a marketplace similar to Steam or the App Store, comparing it to other games like Roblox that, while free to download and play normally, feature player-made content that can be bought with real money.

Sweeney said: "We’re building an economy, and it will support creators actually building businesses around their work and making increasing amounts of profit from the commerce that arises from people playing their content."

Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 was released in April and developers are already doing some pretty impressive stuff. Working by himself, Lorenzo Drago created an incredibly realistic scene of a Japanese train station that's almost indistinguishable from real life.

This idea of monetizing this Unreal Engine 5 custom content also connects with Epic Games' push into the metaverse - an all-encompassing digital world with its own economy - that Sony and LEGO's parent company KIRKBI invested billions in.

Fortnite in itself is already fulfilling a lot of the concept of putting "the real world" into a shared online space. Countless collaborations between the biggest entertainment franchises and Epic Games combined with the addition of real events like Coachella have already brought the idea to life, and having its own economy will only bolster that.

Ex-Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé is also a believer in this type of monetization in games, commenting recently that he's a believer in the concept to of "play to own". After spending 300 hours building an Animal Crossing island, for example, he'd like to be able to make some money from it.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Epic Games is releasing an "open to everybody" Unreal Engine 5 editor for Fortnite, and will let creators monetize what they make.

CEO Tim Sweeney told Fast Company that around half of players' time in Fortnite is spent playing other users' content and Epic Games wants to make that experience more fully-fledged through the editor, and the ability to monetize that custom content.

"We’re going to release the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, the full capabilities that you’ve seen [in Unreal Engine] opened up so that anybody can build very high-quality game content and code," Sweeney said, "and deploy it into Fortnite without having to do a deal with us. It’s open to everybody."

He added that it's Epic Games' aim to make Fortnite a marketplace similar to Steam or the App Store, comparing it to other games like Roblox that, while free to download and play normally, feature player-made content that can be bought with real money.

Sweeney said: "We’re building an economy, and it will support creators actually building businesses around their work and making increasing amounts of profit from the commerce that arises from people playing their content."

Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 was released in April and developers are already doing some pretty impressive stuff. Working by himself, Lorenzo Drago created an incredibly realistic scene of a Japanese train station that's almost indistinguishable from real life.

This idea of monetizing this Unreal Engine 5 custom content also connects with Epic Games' push into the metaverse - an all-encompassing digital world with its own economy - that Sony and LEGO's parent company KIRKBI invested billions in.

Fortnite in itself is already fulfilling a lot of the concept of putting "the real world" into a shared online space. Countless collaborations between the biggest entertainment franchises and Epic Games combined with the addition of real events like Coachella have already brought the idea to life, and having its own economy will only bolster that.

Ex-Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé is also a believer in this type of monetization in games, commenting recently that he's a believer in the concept to of "play to own". After spending 300 hours building an Animal Crossing island, for example, he'd like to be able to make some money from it.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Ewan McGregor has spoken of his preparations for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, explaining how he had to get into character and rediscover his voice.

Speaking to On Demand Entertainment, McGregor discussed his journey with the Obi-Wan Kenobi character and what it was like to bring him back to the screen after all these years. He admitted he was slightly out of practice when he approached the role again and that he initially struggled to find his character's voice because it "had been so long."

"When we came to do the actual scenes, I totally didn't have his voice," McGregor admitted, reflecting back on an early screen test for the series. "I was just doing this vague, English voice, it sounded like a sort of school teacher or something. But it certainly didn't sound like Alec Guinness, and it didn't sound like Obi-Wan. It just had been so long, I didn't have it."

He said he had to do his "homework" in the months leading up to production and that he "listened to a lot of Alec Guinness" to help him embody the character. His time and commitment eventually paid off, as he felt confident that he was "back" by the time the cameras started rolling and he was reciting his lines from the revised scripts on set.

The original scripts were scrapped because they were "too bleak" but it sounds like the rewrites put the series back on track. The trailers certainly haven't pulled any punches, with the most recent preview offering up clips of Darth Vader, the Inquisitors hunting for Obi-Wan, a handheld droid, and one of the few occasions we see Obi-Wan using a blaster.

Obi-Wan Kenobi picks up ten years after Revenge of the Sith, with Ewan McGregor returning to his Star Wars role (alongside Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader) for the first time in 17 years. McGregor said the series is arriving amid a wave of positivity for the prequels, though he admits he got more out of his Disney+ return than the "first three movies put together."

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will premiere on Disney+ on May 27 with two episodes. Alongside McGregor and Christensen, the series stars Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, and Sung Kang. Deborah Chow is directing the series and Joby Harold is the showrunner, with John Williams and Natalie Holt composing the score.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Ewan McGregor has spoken of his preparations for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, explaining how he had to get into character and rediscover his voice.

Speaking to On Demand Entertainment, McGregor discussed his journey with the Obi-Wan Kenobi character and what it was like to bring him back to the screen after all these years. He admitted he was slightly out of practice when he approached the role again and that he initially struggled to find his character's voice because it "had been so long."

"When we came to do the actual scenes, I totally didn't have his voice," McGregor admitted, reflecting back on an early screen test for the series. "I was just doing this vague, English voice, it sounded like a sort of school teacher or something. But it certainly didn't sound like Alec Guinness, and it didn't sound like Obi-Wan. It just had been so long, I didn't have it."

He said he had to do his "homework" in the months leading up to production and that he "listened to a lot of Alec Guinness" to help him embody the character. His time and commitment eventually paid off, as he felt confident that he was "back" by the time the cameras started rolling and he was reciting his lines from the revised scripts on set.

The original scripts were scrapped because they were "too bleak" but it sounds like the rewrites put the series back on track. The trailers certainly haven't pulled any punches, with the most recent preview offering up clips of Darth Vader, the Inquisitors hunting for Obi-Wan, a handheld droid, and one of the few occasions we see Obi-Wan using a blaster.

Obi-Wan Kenobi picks up ten years after Revenge of the Sith, with Ewan McGregor returning to his Star Wars role (alongside Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader) for the first time in 17 years. McGregor said the series is arriving amid a wave of positivity for the prequels, though he admits he got more out of his Disney+ return than the "first three movies put together."

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will premiere on Disney+ on May 27 with two episodes. Alongside McGregor and Christensen, the series stars Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, and Sung Kang. Deborah Chow is directing the series and Joby Harold is the showrunner, with John Williams and Natalie Holt composing the score.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Despite being involved in a lawsuit over its development, and negative reviews, Square Enix says it recommends Balan Wonderworld "with confidence".

The game was brought up in a Q&A session during a company earnings briefing, during which an investor asked about ex-director Yuji Naka's lawsuit against the company, seemingly brought after his dismissal from the project.

Square Enix confirmed that Naka had a lawsuit case with the company but wouldn't give any further details about it. However, according to Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki, Square Enix also commented on Balan Wonderworld itself, saying, "it is a game that we recommend with confidence."

Square Enix confirmed it had lawsuit case with Yuji Naka but declined to comment further. As for Balan Wonderworld, "it is a game that we recommend with confidence." (from Q&A session during earnings briefing)

— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) May 13, 2022

Balan Wonderworld hasn't had the best time in the spotlight. Naka left Square Enix after the game was released last year and has since become an independent developer. Recently, Naka opened up about his time at Square Enix developing the game. He said that he had an internal conflict with co-developer Arzest and felt like Balan Wonderworld was submitted in an unfinished state. Furthermore, Naka called out the company, saying, "I think Square Enix is no good."

In IGN's Balan Wonderworld review, we said, "It’s a mess of undercooked concepts and clunky mechanics that slow it to a crawl, and it seems to take inspiration from better games without properly recapturing what actually makes them fun." In that context, Square Enix's recommendation feels a little off-base.

In other Square Enix news, the company recently sold off its western studios to Embracer Group in order to fund future projects, such as cloud services, AI, and most notably, blockchain initiatives, the last of which Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has expressed an interest in pursuing.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Despite being involved in a lawsuit over its development, and negative reviews, Square Enix says it recommends Balan Wonderworld "with confidence".

The game was brought up in a Q&A session during a company earnings briefing, during which an investor asked about ex-director Yuji Naka's lawsuit against the company, seemingly brought after his dismissal from the project.

Square Enix confirmed that Naka had a lawsuit case with the company but wouldn't give any further details about it. However, according to Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki, Square Enix also commented on Balan Wonderworld itself, saying, "it is a game that we recommend with confidence."

Square Enix confirmed it had lawsuit case with Yuji Naka but declined to comment further. As for Balan Wonderworld, "it is a game that we recommend with confidence." (from Q&A session during earnings briefing)

— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) May 13, 2022

Balan Wonderworld hasn't had the best time in the spotlight. Naka left Square Enix after the game was released last year and has since become an independent developer. Recently, Naka opened up about his time at Square Enix developing the game. He said that he had an internal conflict with co-developer Arzest and felt like Balan Wonderworld was submitted in an unfinished state. Furthermore, Naka called out the company, saying, "I think Square Enix is no good."

In IGN's Balan Wonderworld review, we said, "It’s a mess of undercooked concepts and clunky mechanics that slow it to a crawl, and it seems to take inspiration from better games without properly recapturing what actually makes them fun." In that context, Square Enix's recommendation feels a little off-base.

In other Square Enix news, the company recently sold off its western studios to Embracer Group in order to fund future projects, such as cloud services, AI, and most notably, blockchain initiatives, the last of which Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has expressed an interest in pursuing.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Nintendo won't be drawn on when it will release a successor to the Switch, but president Shuntaro Furukawa has made it clear that the company aims not to repeat the same mistakes as it did when moving from Wii to Wii U, and DS to 3DS.

In the company's latest financial briefing Q&A, an attendee asked Furukawa how Nintendo aimed to move on from the Switch smoothly when it chooses to release next-generation hardware. While Furukawa didn't directly acknowledge new hardware, or when it might arrive, he pointed out that the company is aiming to learn from its past mistakes:

"Looking back on past experiences of generational change such as the change from the Wii and Nintendo DS eras, we recognize that one of our tasks is ensuring the transition to future generations of hardware is as smooth as possible," he said.

Nintendo saw enormous success with the Wii and DS (the latter of which remains its best-selling hardware of all time), but their successors, Wii U and 3DS, both suffered very rocky launches. While 3DS recovered to some extent, Wii U became one of Nintendo's most notable failures, with production ending just 5 years after launch. Much of the problem for both machines were their similarities to their predecessors, with many customers unclear on what had been upgraded, and whether they even needed the new hardware.

Switch, which has combined Nintendo's home and handheld hardware businesses, is still going strong in its fifth year on sale, but Nintendo is clearly thinking about how to bring a large portion of its 100 million owners with it to the next generation. The aim appears to be to get Nintendo fans to connect with Nintendo in more places than simply their Switch:

"We are focusing on building long-term relationships with our consumers (through Nintendo Accounts)," continued Furukawa. "While continuing to release new Nintendo Switch software for consumers to enjoy, we aim to maintain relationships across hardware generations through services that utilize Nintendo Accounts and by providing opportunities for them to experience our IP through other non-gaming channels."

As for when Nintendo will release a new console, that remains more hazy. Rumours have swirled for over a year around the existence of an upgraded Switch model – which many have dubbed the Switch Pro – but Nintendo has repeatedly denied them.

Given that Switch itself continues to see massive success, both in hardware and software, it would make some sense for Nintendo to attempt to keep that audience in place, but whether its next console is an upgrade or a fully-fledged new machine remains unclear.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Nintendo won't be drawn on when it will release a successor to the Switch, but president Shuntaro Furukawa has made it clear that the company aims not to repeat the same mistakes as it did when moving from Wii to Wii U, and DS to 3DS.

In the company's latest financial briefing Q&A, an attendee asked Furukawa how Nintendo aimed to move on from the Switch smoothly when it chooses to release next-generation hardware. While Furukawa didn't directly acknowledge new hardware, or when it might arrive, he pointed out that the company is aiming to learn from its past mistakes:

"Looking back on past experiences of generational change such as the change from the Wii and Nintendo DS eras, we recognize that one of our tasks is ensuring the transition to future generations of hardware is as smooth as possible," he said.

Nintendo saw enormous success with the Wii and DS (the latter of which remains its best-selling hardware of all time), but their successors, Wii U and 3DS, both suffered very rocky launches. While 3DS recovered to some extent, Wii U became one of Nintendo's most notable failures, with production ending just 5 years after launch. Much of the problem for both machines were their similarities to their predecessors, with many customers unclear on what had been upgraded, and whether they even needed the new hardware.

Switch, which has combined Nintendo's home and handheld hardware businesses, is still going strong in its fifth year on sale, but Nintendo is clearly thinking about how to bring a large portion of its 100 million owners with it to the next generation. The aim appears to be to get Nintendo fans to connect with Nintendo in more places than simply their Switch:

"We are focusing on building long-term relationships with our consumers (through Nintendo Accounts)," continued Furukawa. "While continuing to release new Nintendo Switch software for consumers to enjoy, we aim to maintain relationships across hardware generations through services that utilize Nintendo Accounts and by providing opportunities for them to experience our IP through other non-gaming channels."

As for when Nintendo will release a new console, that remains more hazy. Rumours have swirled for over a year around the existence of an upgraded Switch model – which many have dubbed the Switch Pro – but Nintendo has repeatedly denied them.

Given that Switch itself continues to see massive success, both in hardware and software, it would make some sense for Nintendo to attempt to keep that audience in place, but whether its next console is an upgrade or a fully-fledged new machine remains unclear.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.