Diego Argüello, Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

December 9, 2025

3 Min Read

3D Investment Partners, an independent investment management firm and a major shareholder of Square Enix, has criticized the company in a 112-page presentation, hoping to engage in constructive dialogue to "enhance its corporate value."

As reported by BusinessWire and spotted by Automaton, the Singapore-based investment fund, which owns a 14.36 percent stake in the Japanese company, has called on other shareholders to join them in "sharing frank opinions" on "management issues."

Primarily, the firm critiques the "sluggish" revenue growth rate and profit margins based on the last three fiscal years. For context, back in May, Square announced a 3-year business plan promising a "reboot for long-term growth." The strategy involves reorganizing its development studios to operate under one management group, expanding revenue opportunities by "strengthening customer contact points," and other corporate initiatives.

At the time, the company’s annual financial results reported an 8 percent decrease in net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, diving from ¥356 billion (about $2.5 billion) to ¥324 billion (about $2.2 billion). In addition, operating income decreased from ¥40 billion to ¥32 billion.

After a steady stream of sagging quarterly financial results over the last year, 3D Investment Partners, which first started acquiring shares in April this year, was initially looking for just "pure investment," and, depending on circumstances, to "offer advice or make significant proposals to management." It seems the latter have finally manifested.

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‘Once again—surprise us, move us, and ignite that passion we once felt’

The presentation, which is titled "Management Issues of Your Company as Seen from Outside," primarily focuses on the video game business, but also criticizes the "insufficient" synergy between Square’s gaming and non-game businesses.

Regarding the three-year "reboot," the firm thinks it "does not present a concrete future vision," adding that there’s no mention of a business portfolio strategy and management strategy for the non-game businesses, or capital allocation policy based on ROIC.

"With respect to resolving SQEX HD’s management issues, the Current Medium-Term Business Plan presents only extremely vague policies for resolving each problem (e.g., a dispersed development portfolio, poor platform selection, and deficiencies in product design), and contains no description of specific KPIs, quantitative targets, or execution plans. As a result, they are inadequate as concrete solutions to each of these problems," reads the presentation.

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Also in the presentation, the firm draws several comparisons to other Japanese video game companies, including Konami, Nintendo, and Capcom. Another section includes recently released titles that have been "harshly criticized," picking up what seem to be quotes from Metacritic users, with the same applying to new IPs like Forspoken, Babylon’s Fall, and Marvel’s Avengers.

According to the firm, the shareholder explained these concerns to Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu and outside director Abdullah Aldawood in October of this year. As stated by the firm, Kiryu replied "only with a brief email," stating that the current medium-term business plan "was sufficient and a new review framework was not necessary."

Now, 3D Investment Partners wants to encourage outside directors to "act more fully as representatives and advocates for the general shareholders," while urging other shareholders to read the presentation, collect their "frank views," and engage in "constructive dialogue" with Square to "enhance its corporate value again."

"Once again—surprise us, move us, and ignite that passion we once felt," reads the beginning of the presentation. "For gamers across the globe have been waiting, endlessly, for that irreplaceable experience."

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So far, 2025 has seen People Can Fly blaming Square for layoffs and project cancelations, as well as the company stating that it wants to use generative AI, a technology that has constantly been criticized by game developers, to "automate 70 percent of QA and debugging" by late 2027.

About the Author

Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.