Square Enix

Square Enix is a Japanese video game development company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The company has become well known for its principal franchises, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts. Aside from video game publishing and development, it is also in the business of merchandise, arcade/amusement facilities and manga publication under its Gangan Comics brand.
==History of Square==
Square Co., Ltd., also known as Squaresoft, was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto, and its headquarters were in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. Its first ever game was The Death Trap, which was released exclusively in Japan in 1984. In December 1985, Square dug deeper into the gaming industry by releasing Thexder for the Famicom in late 1985.
In 1987, Square released Final Fantasy, which sold over 400,000 copies. In 1995, Square released Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo. In 1996, Square co-developed and released Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. In 1997, Square released Final Fantasy VII for the Sony PlayStation, which sold 9.8 million copies worldwide. It became one of Square's most successful titles up to date, mainly due to its main character, Cloud Strife gaining recognition in the future years.
By 2001, Square's reputation began to decline. To alleviate the decline, the company witnessed the resignation of several employees and others shifting their positions or ranks. Hironobu Sakaguchi, who was the designer and programmer for The Death Trap, announced that he would step away from his role as vice president of the company but still act as executive producer for upcoming titles. Still, Square was suffering finalcially, and they recruited Sony to purchase the company, which succeeded, which resulted in an 18.6% stake.
On November 26, 2001 it was reported that Square CEO Hisashi Suzuki was to step down as the company's president and that COO Yoichi Wada was to replace him in December with a restructuring plan for the company.
In late 2002, Square released Kingdom Hearts, which turned out to be another booming success. Sora, the game's main character, gained further recognition within the future years. The company's finances gainfully recovered with the most recent release along with Final Fantasy X.
==History of Enix==
Enix was founded on September 22, 1975 as the Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Japanese architect-turned-entrepreneur Yasuhiro Fukushima. The company initially published tabloids that advertised real estate.
By August 30, 1982, Eidansha Systems was renamed Enix Corporation. It began a foray into the gaming market by holding a personal computer game programming contest. One of the company's first releases was Love Match Tennis. The next title would be Door Door. With the Famicom on the rise, Enix would release Dragon Quest, which would later become a successful franchise. Key members of the developer's staff consisted of director Koichi Nakamura, writer Yuuji Horii, artist Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama, among others. The first Dragon Quest game was released in 1986, selling 1.5 million copies in Japan.
In 1991, Enix registered its stock with the Japan Securities Dealers Association, later known as JASDAQ. The company established ties with more video game developers and would go on to publish several games for fourth, fifth, and sixth generation game consoles.
==Merger as one==
In 2000, a merger between Square and Enix was initially considered. Square was suffering finacially until Sony purchased an 18.6% stake with the company in late 2001. With the recent releases on Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts, Square's finances regained in a big way. By November 25, 2002, the merger with Square and Enix was to initially proceed, which would intend to decrease development costs and to compete with foreign developers.
The merger officially took effect on April 1, 2003. As part of the merger, former Square president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while former Enix president Keiji Honda became its vice president. The founder of Enix and the largest shareholder of the newly combined corporation, Yasuhiro Fukushima, was made its honorary chairman. Three months into its merger, the newly combined company moved its headquarters to Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.
Square Enix acquired several companies and created several subsidiary companies. To strengthen its market, Square Enix acquired mobile application developer UIEvolution in March 2004, though it was sold in December 2007, and the company instead founded its own Square Enix MobileStudio in January 2008 to focus on mobile products. In January 2005, Square Enix formed a corporate office in China, expanding their interests in the People's Republic of China.
In September 2005, Square Enix purchased the gaming developer and publisher Taito, renowned for their arcade games such as Space Invaders and the Bubble Bobble series; Taito's home and portable console games divisions were merged into Square Enix itself by March 2010. In August 2008, Square Enix made plans for a similar expansion by way of a friendly takeover of video game developer Tecmo by purchasing shares at a 30 percent premium, but Tecmo rejected the proposed takeover.
In February 2009, Square Enix announced a takeover deal for Eidos plc, the holding company for Eidos Interactive, the UK-based publisher of the Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain franchises, along with its multiple subsidiary development studios that developed the games The acquisition of Eidos was completed in April 2009, and in November the publisher was merged with Square Enix's European publishing organization to form Square Enix Europe.
In March 2011, Square Enix founded mobile development studio Hippos Lab and Square Enix Montréal in 2012. In July 2011, it was reported that Square Enix closed their Los Angeles Studio.
On March 26, 2013, citing sluggish sales of major Western games, Square Enix announced major restructuring and resignation of President and Representative Director Yoichi Wada, whom Yosuke Matsuda replaced. Phil Rogers was elected as a new director, among several others. With the restructuring, Square Enix of America CEO Mike Fischer resigned in May, with former Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers becoming CEO of Americas and Europe. Further executive changes at Square Enix Western studios were mentioned in a statement. With the consolidation of Square Enix Western divisions around 2015.
In March 2013, Square Enix India opened in Mumbai until closing in April 2014. Around the same time, Square Enix Latin America in and Square Enix Mexico were open, but both closed in 2015. A mobile studio called Smileworks was founded in Indonesia in June 2013; however it was closed in January 2015.
In 2019, Square Enix opened an Indian office again, this time in Bangaluru, which expanded into publishing mobile games for the Indian market in 2021.
Category:Gaming YouTubers
Category:Japanese YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2011