Squaresoft and Enix of Japan Announce End to Long-Running April Fools Joke

In a press conference at 12:00pm, JST, Squaresoft and Enix of Japan have announced an end to their long-running April Fools joke. “To be honest, we never thought it would go on for this long,” said Souichiro Watanuki, speaking on behalf of the two companies. “Honda-san [of Enix] and Wada-san [of Squaresoft] came up with the idea for the merger joke over a long night of shochu and karaoke, and we all just ran with it.  No one thought it would fool anyone, yet here we are seventeen years later, and nobody has figured it out, it seems.”

Since the announced merger on April 1, 2003, the two companies have gone on to do a number of improbable things, including the revivals of previously defunct IPs, several video game movies, and the Bravely Default franchise.

Referring to the decision to end the charade, Watanuki was quoted as saying, “It all just got to be too much for us. Someone would come up with some ridiculous concept, like that proposed virtual actress who ended up starring in a Groundhog Day adaptation, or making Final Fantasy XV a bromance comedy. And that’s not even getting into how [Akitoshi] Kawazu grabbed the opportunity and ran with it to resurrect his own pet projects right and left. Better to end it before everything descends into complete chaos.

“But don’t tell [Motomu] Toriyama. He’s had his heart set on that Final Fantasy VII remake for so long, we can’t bear to tell him that it was one big joke.”

In other news, Squaresoft has announced that with its upcoming partnership with Electronic Arts, the Final Fantasy edition of The Sims will be in stores no later than Q3 2021.