| Square Enix Company, Limited | |
|---|---|
| Image:Square Enix.svg | |
| Type | Public (TYO: 9684) |
| Founded | September 1975 (as Enix) April 1 2003 (merged with Square Co. to become Square Enix) |
| Headquarters | Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Yasuhiro Fukushima, Honorary Chairman Yōichi Wada, President and CEO Keiji Honda, Executive Vice President |
| Industry | Software & Programming Books & Magazines (Japan only) |
| Products | Final Fantasy franchise Mana franchise Dragon Quest franchise Kingdom Hearts franchise Bubble Bobble franchise Space Invaders franchise |
| Revenue | $598.3M USD ( 227% FY '03 to '04) |
| Employees | 3,164 (as of March 31, 2007) |
| Subsidiaries | Taito Corporation |
| Website | www.square-enix.com |
Square Enix Company, Limited (株式会社スクウェア･エニックス kabushikikaisha sukuwea enikkusu?) TYO: 9684 is a Japanese video game company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series (known as Dragon Warrior in North America from 1989 until 2005), and the Kingdom Hearts series. Square Enix was formed as the result of a merger between rivals Square Co. and the Enix Corporation. On April 1, 2003, Enix legally absorbed Square, with Square stockholders receiving 0.85 shares of stock in the new company compared to Enix stockholders receiving a one-to-one trade. Despite this, many top officials within Square assumed leadership roles in the new corporate hierarchy, including Square president Yōichi Wada, who was appointed president of the new corporation.
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Corporate developments
Square Enix has regional operations, including Square Enix, Inc. (for all of North America) and Square Enix Ltd. (for Europe and other areas that use the PAL-television standard). In July 2003, Square Enix relocated their headquarters to Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. In March 2004, Square Enix acquired UIEvolution, Inc. in order to strengthen its wireless market. On August 22, 2005, Square Enix announced its acquisition of the amusement gaming developer and publisher, Taito Corporation, renowned for their arcade hits, Space Invaders and the Bubble Bobble series. By September 28, 2005, Square Enix had wholly acquired Taito. In January 2005, the company expanded operations to Beijing, China by establishing Square Enix (China) Co., Ltd as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company also has a controlling interest in Community Network Software Engine of Beijing, China which focuses on network middle-ware for gaming.
Production teams
As of September 2003, Square Enix' production staff were divided in eight different Square teams:[1]
- Production Team 1 headed by Yoshinori Kitase
- Production Team 2 headed by Akitoshi Kawazu
- Production Team 3 headed by Hiromichi Tanaka (responsible for Final Fantasy XI)
- Production Team 4 headed by Yasumi Matsuno
- Production Team 5 headed by Yusuke Hirata
- Production Team 6 headed by Toshiro Tsuchida (responsible for the Front Mission series)
- Production Team 7 headed by Takashi Tokita
- Production Team 8 headed by Koichi Ishii (responsible for the Mana series)
In addition to two Enix teams:[1]
- Production Team 9 headed by Ari Miyake (responsible for Dragon Quest)
- Production Team 10 headed by Yosuke Saito
As of May 2005, Production Team 10 was headed by Yoshinori Yamagishi and was responsible for producing tri-Ace's games.[2] Yusuke Hirata left Square Enix in June 2005 to join Aquaplus,[3] while Yasumi Matsuno left in August 2005 for speculated reasons.[4]
Properties
Computer and video games
By far, Square Enix's video gaming properties are its most valued assets. Square Enix's Dragon Quest franchise is considered the second most popular game series in Japan after Pokémon, and each new installment of the series routinely reaches the top of Japanese sales records, selling over 41 million units so far, with about 39 million from Japan. Overall, the Final Fantasy franchise can be considered the company's most important asset, with total worldwide sales of over 75 million units as of 2007.[5] More recently, Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series (developed in collaboration with Disney's Buena Vista Games) has become massively popular worldwide, adding another valuable asset to the company. In early 2003, Square Enix's U.S. subsidiary registered the Dragon Quest trademark, retiring the Dragon Warrior moniker, which was necessitated in 1989 due a trademark conflict with the now defunct TSR, Inc. In May 2004 Square Enix announced an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment for the Japanese publishing rights to EverQuest II. As of 2006, Square Enix has produced titles for the Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Xbox 360 video game consoles, as well as for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable handheld game consoles. The company has announced titles for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles, as well as for the Nintendo DS. In addition, they have published games for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and for various models of mobile phone. Square Enix mobile phone games are available on the Vodafone network in some European countries, including Ireland, Great Britain, Spain, and France. Twenty five of Square Enix's video games were included in Famitsu magazine's top 100 games, seven being in the top ten list, with Final Fantasy X claiming the number one position. [6] Square Enix's other franchises lag behind many non-Square Enix franchises saleswise. Before its launch, Michihiro Sasaki, senior vice president of Square Enix, spoke about the PlayStation 3, saying "We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them, but we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."[7] Square Enix continued to reiterate their devotion to multi-platform publishing in 2007, promising more support for the North American and European gaming markets where console pluralism is generally more prevalent than in Japan[8]. Square Enix has revealed that a new seventh generation middleware game engine called the White Engine will power the PlayStation 3 exclusive Final Fantasy XIII and other future games. In addition, the company has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 for use outside White Engine projects.[9]
Square Enix game series
- Dragon Quest - from Enix - established on the MSX on May 27, 1986
- Rad Racer - from Square - established on the NES on August 7, 1987
- Final Fantasy - from Square - established on the NES on December 18, 1987
- Itadaki Street - (Japan-only) - from Enix - established on the Famicom in 1988
- SaGa - from Square - established on the Game Boy in 1989
- Mana (Seiken Densetsu series in Japan) - from Square - franchise established on the Game Boy in 1991
- Chrono - from Square - established on the SNES in 1995
- Parasite Eve - from Square - established on the PlayStation in 1998
- Front Mission - from Square - established on the Super Famicom in 1995
- Star Ocean - from Enix - established on the Super Famicom in 1996
- Valkyrie Profile - from Enix - established on the PlayStation in 2000
- Kingdom Hearts - from Square with Disney - established on the PlayStation 2 on March 28, 2002
- Drakengard - in development for Enix, but published under the Square Enix name - established on the PlayStation 2 on September 11, 2003
- Space Invaders - created by Taito Corporation in 1978, a subsidiary of Square Enix
- Bubble Bobble - created by Taito Corporation in 1986, a subsidiary of Square Enix
- Lufia - published by Taito Corporation starting in 1993, a subsidiary of Square Enix
Online gaming
Square Enix first started its online gaming business phase back in 2000. The first online game Square Enix created was Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy XI was first released in Japan on May 16, 2002, for the PlayStation 2. In March 2004, Square Enix released the game worldwide. With the huge success from Final Fantasy XI, Microsoft had the game ported into the Xbox 360 in April 2006, making it the first Final Fantasy game ever to be on the Xbox franchise. Due to the success of their MMORPG, Square Enix began a new project called Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion. GamePot, a Japanese game portal, got the license to publish Fantasy Earth in Japan and it was released in Japan as "Fantasy Earth ZERO." In November 2006, however, Square Enix dropped the Fantasy Earth Zero project, giving acquisition to GamePot.
Film
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was produced by now-defunct Squaresoft subsidiary Square Pictures prior to the merger. Its box-office failure caused Enix to delay the merger, which was already considered before the creation of the film, for fear of associating with a company that loses money.
- Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is a CGI-animation movie based on Squaresoft's successful PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII, set two years after the events of the game.
Manga
The company also has a manga publishing division in Japan (from Enix) called Gangan Comics. It publishes manga for the Japanese market only. Titles published by Gangan Comics include Papuwa, Pani Poni, Spiral and Fullmetal Alchemist. Also contains manga adaptations of diverse Square Enix games, like Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts and Star Ocean. Some of these titles were also adapted into anime series. Fullmetal Alchemist so far is the most successful offspring of Square Enix's manga branch. The anime series obtained great popularity in Japan and even spawned a movie sequel. Both series and movie are licensed to many locations worldwide (in North America by FUNimation Entertainment). The same occurs with its manga series, licensed in North America by Viz Media. Kingdom Hearts and Spiral were licensed in North America by Tokyopop, however, due to unknown reasons, Tokyopop dropped Spiral, and the title is now pending release by Hachette's Yen Press. Pani Poni Dash!, an anime series based on the Pani Poni manga, was licensed in North America by ADV Films.
Studios
- Square Enix's internal studios in Osaka/Tokyo, Japan and Beijing, China
- UIEvolution in Bellevue, Washington
Public opinion
- The company won IGN's award for Best Developer of 2006 for the PlayStation 2.[10]
- The Better Business Bureau has assigned the company's North American subsidiary, Square Enix, Inc., a rating of "B." [11]
See also
References
- ^ a b Winkler, Chris (2003). Square Enix Talks Current Status. RPGFan.com. Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Nutt, Christian (2005). Yoshinori Yamagishi Interview (PS2). GameSpy.com. Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Winklet, Chris (2005). Square Enix Producer Joins Aquaplus. RPGFan.com. Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Parish, Jeremy (2006). Retronauts: Volume 4 – Yasumi Matsuno. GameSetWatch.com. Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Square Enix Company Information. Square-Enix.com (2007). Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Wollenschlaeger, Alex. Japan Picks the Best Games Ever. Kikizo.com. Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Sinclair, Brian (2006). Square Enix wants a three-way race. GameSpot.com. Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Berti, Matt (2007). Square Enix to devote more attention to U.S., European markets. SquareHaven.com. Retrieved on 25 September, 2007.
- ^ Tomer (2007). Square Enix Acquires Unreal Engine 3 License. Forever Fantasy. Retrieved on 25 January, 2007.
- ^ IGN presents Best of 2006. IGN.com (2006). Retrieved on 1 August, 2007.
- ^ Company Report – Square Enix, Inc.. The Better Business Bureau serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties of Southern California. Retrieved on 09 July, 2007.
External links
- Square Enix Global site
- PlayOnline Square Enix's portal for their online titles including Final Fantasy XI & Front Mission Online
- Fantasy Earth Zero Japan site Square Enix's 2nd MMO
- History of Enix and Square (official site)
- Financial details of Square Enix's acquisition of Taito
- Square Haven - A Square Enix fan Resource
- Square Insider - A Square Enix fan Resource
