January 6, 2016, Square Enix announced that they would be dissolving Shinra Technologies due to a lack of investment. Views on the industry Final Fantasy In January 2010, Wada, asked about his opinion on "big-budget, long-in-development" Square Enix games such as Final Fantasy XIII, noted: "[W]hether we are going to continue to internally create this type of game remains to be seen, because I actually feel that the team that was involved with Final Fantasy XIII should next move on to create and generate some 'next generation' forms of play. Internally and externally I feel there's an expectation of Square Enix to offer something new, and I really think that the Final Fantasy team could create something completely different, but at the moment they're strictly catering to the particular audience they have now." Piracy Wada has stated that video game piracy significantly damages the video game industry, especially in Japan, with R4 cards for the Nintendo DS. Japan banned R4 after Nintendo, Square Enix, and Capcom brought the issue to court in 2009. Wada proposed that the best strategy to combat this involved personalized saves and a social community built around gaming to help players understand the product's value. Online distribution In November 2009, Wada stated: "In ten years' time, a lot of what we call 'console games' won't exist". According to him, the primary strategy of console manufacturers has switched from hardware to network starting in 2005, with any computer becoming a potential gaming platform. He claimed that sales firms and distributors were in for economic troubles, but “format holders” such as Sony and Microsoft were already prepared. Square Enix increased its production of social and browser games during this period as a result, though Wada restated his commitment to console gaming and the Final Fantasy series in particular. References External links CEO Interview Archive at Square Enix website To Our Shareholders at Square Enix website Speeches at Square Enix website 1959 births Japanese chief executives Living people People from Nagoya Businesspeople from Tokyo Square (video game company) Square Enix people Taito people University of Tokyo alumni Japanese chairpersons of corporations Chief financial officers Chief operating officers