Square Enix 2006 Annual Report Download - page 6

SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
Becoming the World’s Leading Community
Management Company: Three Key Approaches
Our goal is to become the best community management company
providing the best content in the world. When I talk about
“community,” I do not limit it to just net-based communities, but
use it to mean any group of customers that share a common set of
tastes and interests. By serving each community organically with
the highest quality content and services, we aim to make these
communities even stronger.
In the world of entertainment, if the people in the audience are
not enjoying themselves, they will refuse to pay the entertainer a
dime. To say it another way, the fact that people have paid shows
that they have already made quite a significant commitment to
what we are offering. Through the development of the network
environment and the formation of virtual and real communities,
the relationships built up between content and customers, as well
as the relationships among customers, will become even stronger.
Strategic Options Needed
I have provided a brief overview above of the current situation in
the video game industry. The changes taking place have implications
far beyond the video game industry alone. I would argue that it
is natural to view what is happening in the video game industry
as part of a much broader industrial revolution sweeping the
economy as a whole. In our industry and in many others, a
process of trial and error is being repeated, with the consensus
on the next generation of business models not yet within reach.
I believe the strategy suited to such a fluid period of transfor-
mation should involve management developing a diverse and
effective range of tactical options. In particular, what kind of
management options should we prepare?
At the heart of the current revolution is a power shift from
companies to consumers. There are many very hasty arguments
about the meaning of this phenomenon; however, I would propose
a reasonable definition along the following lines. The power of
consumers was not recognized in the past, but now consumers
are getting involved in one end of the supply chain.
A fundamental policy must be to make this power shift
toward consumers an anchor within our menu of strategic
options. Simultaneously, we need to ensure that the Company
has a sufficient level of maneuverability. For this reason, we
decided to raise ¥50 billion in convertible bonds with warrants
in November 2005.
In a networked society, content providers and customers will develop content together
Software Community
Content made by game makers Content generated by users