The COVID-19 pandemic has completed shaped the social and economic course of activity in 2020, and the video game industry has not been completely immune to its effects. While the digital nature of the medium has allowed it to endure and thrive this year, the pandemic has necessitated that developers keep their employees working remotely at home. This move led to delays for games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Bravely Default II, but it did show the feasibility of development teams working from home in the future. It seems that Square Enix employees will be among the first to be granted that opportunity across the board in the future.

Square Enix recently shared this news on their official website, announcing a new initiative to allow Square Enix employees to work from home, even after the pandemic fades away. Starting on December 1st, all executives and employees at the Square Enix offices in Japan will be given the option to work remotely on a permanent basis. Square Enix obviously cites the pandemic as a reason for this decision, but also hopes that it will foster a more flexible and diverse work environment for its projects. As the statement reads:

The additional options this program creates will also enable the Company to recruit more diverse human resources, as well as to establish an organization capable of adapting to unexpected developments such as disasters and changes in employment models. By adopting a new style of working for a new world, the Company will enable employees to unleash even greater creativity as it continues to provide its customers around the world with content and services that fulfill their expectations.”

After December 1st, Square Enix employees will be designated as either “home-based” or “office-based” depending on where they spend the majority of their time working, and the company expects 80% of their staff to be “home-based” after the initiative takes effect. There will still be some employees that will be required to be “office-based” for periods of time depending on what projects they are working on. Several big tech companies such as Twitter have already announced similar remote work initiatives, but this is the first big game developer/publisher to make such a move.

Remote work is certainly helpful in fostering diversity, especially among those finding trouble commuting or have disabilities that make office spaces far too much of an obstacle to work productively. Hopefully, more gaming companies consider allowing their employees to work remotely in the future. If Square Enix is actively trying to avoid being like Shinra, it seems to be working.

Do you guys think other developers should allow their staff to work from home like these Square Enix employees? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest Square Enix news, such as the new The World Ends With You anime series trailer, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!