Square Enix announced that former CEO and President of Square Enix America, Mike Fisher, stepped down from his post earlier this month. Mike Fisher had been at the helm of Square Enix America since July of 2010. Prior to landing a position at Square Enix, Fisher worked for Namco, Sega and Microsoft. Fisher is leaving Square Enix to become Vice President of Digital Music and Video for Amazon in Japan and will be replaced by the current CEO of Square Enix Europe, Phil Rogers. As Rogers takes over the position of CEO and President of Square Enix America, he will now run the day to day operations of both the American and European divisions. During Fisher’s time as CEO, he planned to move Square Enix America away from the big budget titles and steer them towards making smaller and more experimental titles.
“I think we’re probably seeing the end of games like Dungeon Siege 3, which is being developed here at Square Enix in America – it was a fine game, but it’s not necessary for us to make games like this because I’ve got this incredible pipeline of product that’s coming from Japan,” he said at the time. “I’ve got these titles, many of which you see here, coming from Europe. I don’t need to duplicate that.”
While Fisher was on the job, Square Enix launched the first-person puzzle action game Quantum Conundrum designed by Kim Swift. Unfortunately, times have been tough for Square Enix with the company showing significant losses during the last fiscal quarter and blaming said losses on an increasingly competitive console market. Corporate executives in Japan recently blamed titles like Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution for having poor sales. Two months ago, Square Enix CEO, Yoichi Wada, resigned his position due to bad sales numbers and the company’s desire for management reform.
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Gamer Horizon 