Square Enix announced on July 16 it set up a new game brand, titled Balan Company. This Balan Company brand will include action games made by both developers working at Square Enix and outside talent, all professionals of action games, visuals and music. With Balan Company, Square Enix will strive to deliver "The best Action game experience" to the world.

The "Company" part of the brand name is a reference to theatrical and musical companies, not the business-like meaning of the word.

A teaser site was opened as well. It includes the following message:

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the show of wonders brought to you by the Balan Company. We thank you for your patience while we make preparations for the grand opening.

Square Enix has been galvanizing its Action game developing power these past few years. Ryota Suzuki, who worked on Devil May Cry 5 at Capcom, was hired by the company in 2019. He's currently the Battle Director of an AAA Action game developed by Naoki Yoshida's division. Perhaps it'll be one of the games part of Balan Company.

Yuji Naka, iconic programmer from Sega and ex-leader of Sonic Team, also joined Square Enix back in 2018, and later confirmed in 2019 that he's developing an Action game. Maybe it'll be part of Balan as well.

Personally speaking, I'm a bit skeptical when it comes to Square Enix nowadays, and honestly I would have lost interest by now if not for a few gems like Dragon Quest XI or Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Or the company's manga via GanGan, often forgotten outside Japan, which always published masterpieces. From the Higurashi manga adaptations over 15 years ago to the recent stunning story of The Apothecary Diaries.

In any case, I'll be keeping an eye on Balan Company. Speaking of Square Enix, the company recently trademarked Live A Live in Australia so maybe some new development regarding it is coming soon.

Update: Square Enix updated the teaser page on July 22 to state that a first announcement will be coming on July 23 at 1000 PT / 1300 ET.