Studio Onoma may be Square Enix’s new Western game studio
After selling off most of its Western gaming studios and properties, such as Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, to the Embracer Group, you’d think Square Enix was completely done with the Western gaming market. But according to the sharp eyes at VGC, that may not be the case!
VGC reports that a trademark application has been filed in Canada for a “Studio Onoma” with the trademark applicant listed as Square Enix Newco Limited, a recently established company based in the UK. Both companies seem to be in the business of publishing and developing “computer and video game software”. Studio Onoma’s listing further states that it may also produce various goods including strategy guides, toys, games and “playthings, namely action figures”, and handheld battery-operated games.
While the stated purpose of a company on an application is just words, it is intriguing what is listed on Studio Onoma’s application since it seems to be a wide variety of things, though entertainment and video game related. It is also curious that Square Enix, after selling their Western gaming companies mainly due to not knowing how to run them well enough to meet their internal goals (along with “streamlining” their capital flow), would try to get involved with another Western studio so soon.
Personally, I think the signs point to a mess at Square Enix – which, hopefully, with their current moves, they are trying to fix.
