This Is Square Enix India’s First Game
Playing it safe.
Square Enix India announced its first game, Ludo Zenith. While the Final Fantasy hitmaker would handle publishing duties, Ludo Zenith would be marketed and developed by Pune-based JetSynthesys. Pre-registration for the game is now live on the Google Play Store.
“India has always been a very important market for us,” said Ryoma Matsui, Director, Square Enix India in a prepared statement. “We are extremely delighted to start the pre-registrations for Ludo Zenith, followed by an official launch later partnered with JetSynthesys.”
“We are delighted to partner with Square Enix, a multi-billion dollar company synonymous with innovation in the gaming segment,” said Mr. Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JetSynthesys in the same prepared statement. “This association perfectly aligns with our overall vision to expand our presence, both in India and globally. And we are confident that our enhanced version of the game will be well received by millions of Ludo fans across the country.”
JetSynthesys is known locally for its games like Sachin Cricket Saga for iOS and Android. It recently acquired Nautilus, developer of the popular Real Cricket series games and received Rs. 300 crore in funding from existing shareholders back in June 2020. It’s also been staffing up, adding employees from the likes of Apple to its ranks.
As for Square Enix, the company had a presence in India between 2012 and 2014 (disclosure: this author was one of the employees of the company at the time). During that period, it was based in Mumbai and met with nearly every developer in the country. No projects were greenlit aside from a mobile MMORPG that was cancelled three months into development.
After that, the company mulled its options and returned in 2019, initially by promoting its mobile game, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius with influencers like Rony ‘Rawknee’ Dasgupta and Tanmay ‘Scout’ Singh. Considering how heated the casual game genre is, particularly for ludo games, it will be interesting to understand the logic behind such a decision.
