Despite the fair level of success Ninja Gaiden II brought Tecmo (it chalked up over one million sales as of yesterday), they are still not in a particularly good time in the company’s forty year history. Tomonobu Itagaki is gone, leaving Tecmo without a well-known, standout developer like Capcom’s Keiji Inafune or Konami’s Hideo Kojima. Yoshimi Yasuda, President of Tecmo, stepped down, leaving a void in leadership. Itagaki, and other members of their staff, in and out of Team Ninja, are suing for unpaid wages. And because of all this turmoil, stock prices are in a nosedive.
Seeing an opportunity to significantly bolster its IPs and staff, Square-Enix made a “rescue offer” to Tecmo, offering roughly $205 million USD or about sixteen bazillion Japanese yen in an attempt to snatch up the Dead or Alive publisher. While EA has notoriously used highly aggressive takeover methods in their attempts to absorb Ubisoft (not that there’s anything wrong with that, what’s wrong is how the French government interfered in the transaction), Square-Enix’s offer is “friendly,” and the Final Fantasy publisher allegedly has no plan to take further acton in acquiring the company if they don’t accept the buyout. The offer only stands until September 4th, however, so we will know whether or not Square-Enix will be going to the drawing boards for a Dead or Alive and Final Fantasy crossover or a NInja Gaiden RPG.
Check with MyGamer for more information as it becomes available.