Square Enix eyes M&A in US, Europe

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA: "Final Fantasy" video game maker Square Enix Co. Ltd. is considering software development in the United States or Europe and could buy a local software maker in the process, an executive of the Japanese game software publisher said on Thursday.

"Our Japan sales are bigger (than overseas sales). But when it comes to market size, Europe and the United States are larger than Japan," Jun Yamamoto, head of Square Enix's North American and European operations, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the E3 video game industry show.

"I'm thinking about taking some initial steps to make software that sells well in the United States and Europe," he added.

Potential ways of creating games that match consumer taste in those regions include contracting game development to local software makers and an outright purchase of an independent game software house, Yamamoto said.

"If we have reason to believe it is going to be really beneficial to us, the size of the deal could be rather substantial, although I'm not thinking about buying a major publisher," Yamamoto said.

No concrete budget has been set for a potential deal yet, Yamamoto said.

Square Enix is also known for blockbuster game "Dragon Quest".