In an interview with Reuters, Square Enix president Youichi Wada stated that Final Fantasy XIII for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 won't hit retail store shelves in the US and Europe until after April 2010. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3-exclusive Japanese version of the game is still on track for a release later this year.

Wada was optimistic that the ongoing financial crisis would hardly impact Square Enix's financial results for the current fiscal year ending on March 31st. He pointed to the success of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, which has sold more than 820,000 copies in Japan since its December 18th release. However, Wada acknowledged the strong Yen could impact the company's recurring profit. Furthermore, he warned that Square Enix might find it difficult to post an recurring profit of 50 billion yen ($560.85 million USD) by fiscal year 2010/11, as previously projected.

The Square Enix president also revealed that his company is still talking to companies in Japan and abroad about potential business cooperations as well as M&A (merger and acquisiton) activities.

• Reuters via Guardian
• Reuters Japan