Los Angeles, California and Shinjuku, Japan will be the first recipients of Square Enix's officially licensed cafes. The veteran game publisher announced today that it would open locations on both sides of the Pacific, with both locations set to open this spring.
"The cafe spaces will offer menu items inspired by multiple Square Enix IPs, while the adjoining shop spaces will carry a wide selection of official merchandise," the company said in a press release. No further details have been announced just yet, such as what Square Enix game-inspired menu items would be available to eat and drink or what unique merch will be exclusive to each location.
The Los Angeles location will be operated by J-Pop Culture Cafe Inc. at 316 E. 1st St. in Little Tokyo, in the former Mitsuru Sushi & Grill space. The Shinjuku location, at Paselabo Tower 1F / 2F / 3F, 3-36-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, will be operated by the Newton Corporation.
Food has long been a staple of Square Enix's biggest franchise, Final Fantasy, appearing as healing or stat-boosting items, which means we could see any number of Final Fantasy-inspired food or drinks at the cafes. Dragon Quest's Slimes, meanwhile, seem ripe for inclusion – perhaps in candy form. Kingdom Hearts also comes to mind, though tying that one into these cafes might be trickier given the Disney licensing factor.
Square Enix recently announced that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S this year, and Square Enix game director Tetsuya Nomura says that "development is progressing smoothly" on Kingdom Hearts 4 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3.
What Square Enix game-inpsired food and beverages would you like to see on the menu at the Square Enix Cafe? Let us know in the Comments below!
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
