Square-Enix exec considers crowdfunding for games stuck in Japan

Although crowdfunding is often used to support the development of brand new games, Square Enix is considering a different approach: crowdfunding to localize Japanese games for Western audiences.

According to GameSpot, the latest issue of Game Informer includes a discussion with Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers, in which he suggests that funding campaigns are a "very natural" strategy for bringing over unlocalized titles. "I would love to try and work with [crowdfunding], to find a way," he told the magazine, "because ultimately we want to satisfy the demands of the fans."

Translating a game, especially some of the more text-heavy role-playing ones that Square Enix is known for, "requires this amount of resource," Rogers added. When the demand doesn't match the time and effort a game's localization requires, it's hard to justify an overseas release.

However, Rogers said, "if fans want to sign up for [a campaign to support a game's Western launch] and say, ‘This is the absolute demand for it,' and we can set targets and say if we achieve that, then we can do it."

This is by no means a confirmation that the publisher will turn toward crowdfunding in the future, but fans of titles that never made it to Japan, such as several from the Dragon Quest series, should take notice.