While Square Enix may have recently downsized its core gaming operations by shedding its Western studios, the publisher is intent on continuing to deliver all manner of games both JRPG and not. One of the recent highlights, in particular, is the production of its augmented reality Space Invaders game for mobile phones, which should soon enter its play testing phase.
Keeping that in mind, a specific Square Enix patent that's recently been submitted implies that the publisher is already looking at other augmented reality projects in parallel with the Space Invaders game. Namely, this patent seemingly references systems and features that may be outside of Space Invaders' feature set, and could hint at some of SE's future releases.
A collaboration between Square Enix Montreal and Taito, the AR Space Invaders game was announced last year, and its production seems to be coming along rather well. Square Enix isn't twiddling its proverbial thumbs in the interim, however, and the new patent effectively describes AR widgets that players can interact with to improve the user's engagement. By interacting with these virtual objects, players could control the provided AR experience in a number of ways, with the patent citing an "operation, movement, and a state change," depending on the given context.
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While it is entirely possible for such a system to be used for the referenced Space Invaders game, the reason this patent seems unlikely to be related is that the game is almost available for play testing. A patented control scheme would, therefore, have to have been submitted way earlier. Since this is a fresh listing, instead, the obvious implication is that Square Enix might be looking at ways to leverage augmented reality in the future, alongside its flagship projects such as 2023's Forspoken.
Of course, it's worth pointing out that Square Enix is also pivoting hard into the NFT business. Namely, there are Final Fantasy 7 NFTs being made, and if Square Enix wasn't sure about this direction, it wouldn't have used one of its biggest, most well-established intellectual properties to make this push. At this point, it's hard to say whether AR or NFTs might end up being more profitable for the company, but it's hard to argue for keeping all the eggs in just one basket.
Curiously, Sony may be interested in acquiring Square Enix at this time. Rumors of a potential acquisition have been floating about for months now, and with the vast majority of its Western IPs sold off, Square Enix might be a stellar purchase for a bigger company looking to bolster its JRPG portfolio. Whether that ends up being the case or not, however, is anyone's guess at this point.
The AR Space Invaders mobile game is currently in development.