Square Enix Europe Appoints New Marketing VP

Officials from Square Enix Ltd. in Europe have announced that former Eidos brand manager Larry Sparks will be taking over as the company’s vice president of marketing from October 1st this year. Sparks has more than fifteen years experience in the industry and most recently held the role of global head of brands management at British based publisher Eidos Interactive. He has been deeply involved in a number of early and more modern Tomb Raider games and has most recently worked on Hitman: Blood Money and Just Cause. “I am delighted to welcome Larry as vice president of our marketing team,” said John Yamamoto, president and CEO at Square Enix Ltd. “His track record of building brands and growing franchises in the video games industry and deep understanding of European consumers is perfect for our strategy of further strengthening our existing brands as well as ensuring the success of our growing product line-up in Europe and other PAL territories.” “I am thrilled to be joining Square Enix and have the opportunity to work on world class brands under the leadership of John Yamamoto,” stated Sparks. “I look forward to making a major contribution to the future success of the company.” Traditionally Square Enix has had a limited presence in Europe, with most 8-bit and 16-bit titles going unreleased despite being published in North America. During the 32-bit era the company relied on a variety of third party publishers to distribute their products, but beginning with Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King last April the company has begun to self-publish most of its own home console titles.