Just weeks after confirming it was selling its Western studios and intellectual property to Embracer Group for $300 million, Square Enix revealed plans to “create new studios” and acquire others.

The news came as part of the company’s recent financial presentation, which revealed that one of Square Enix’s “mid-term business strategy” initiatives is to “strengthen game development capabilities by building new studio, [mergers and acquisitions]etc.”

As noted by Axios’ Stephen Totilo (thanks, NME), the company also revealed that the “objectives behind the divestiture of certain foreign studios and intellectual property” – i.e. the reason why she sold her three western studios – were to “achieve growth through the selection and concentration of company sources, better align the overseas publishing function with the organization in Tokyo, and transform the portfolio of group activities.

This last point is particularly interesting because it once again exposes Square Enix’s high-profile blockchain plans, which state that the company will “accelerate the launch and monetization of new businesses by continuing investment in priority areas (blockchain, AI and cloud )”.

The news came as part of Square Enix’s financial results, which also revealed that the company had been kept afloat thanks to Final Fantasy 14. As Ed reported at the time, net sales in the MMOs have grown “not only with a surge in monthly paying subscribers for Final Fantasy 14 but also with the release of an expansion pack for the title”, too.

Last October, we announced that Final Fantasy 14 was the highest-grossing game in the series’ history. Endwalker’s release in December only reinforced this.