Square Enix

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Square Enix Co., Ltd.

Type	Public (TYO: 9684 )
Founded	April 1, 2003 (merger of Square Co., Ltd. and Enix)
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Yasuhiro Fukushima, Honorary Chairman Yoichi Wada, President and CEO Keiji Honda, Executive Vice President
Industry	Software & Programming Books & Magazines (Japan only)
Products	Final Fantasy video game franchise Dragon Quest video game franchise
Revenue	$598.3M USD (227% FY '03 to '04)
Employees	3,050 (as of March 31, 2006)
Slogan	N/A
Website	www.square-enix.com

Square Enix (スクウェア・エニックス, Sukuwea Enikkusu^?) TYO: 9684 is a video game company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series and the Dragon Quest series (known for many years as Dragon Warrior in North America). Square Enix was formed as the result of a merger between Square Co., Ltd. and Enix that took effect as of April 1, 2003. Enix officially absorbed Square, with Square stockholders receiving 0.81 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 Yoichi Wada, who was appointed president of the new corporation.

1 Corporate developments
2 Properties
3 Studios
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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 middleware for gaming.

[edit] Properties

[edit] Computer and video games

Main article: List of Square Enix games: Square Enix

Cover of Dragon Quest VIII. The Dragon Quest series is one of Square Enix's most valuable assets.

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. The Dragon Quest franchise has sold over 40 million units worldwide, with about 39 million from Japan. The Final Fantasy franchise is Square Enix's most successful franchise and can be considered the company's most important asset, with total worldwide sales exceeding 68 million units. [1]. 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 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 [2], which are mostly Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games. Square Enix's other franchises lag behind many non-Square Enix franchises saleswise.

Recently, 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."[3]

Square Enix has revealed that a new seventh generation game engine called the White Engine will power Final Fantasy XIII and other future PS3 games. Originally in development for the PlayStation 2, the White Engine was moved to the PlayStation 3 after developers realized the power of that console.

DVD cover of the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children movie

[edit] Square Enix game franchises

Dragon Quest - from Enix - established on the MSX in 1986
Final Fantasy - from Square - established on the NES in 1987
Itadaki Street - (Japan-only) - from Enix - established on the Famicom in 1988
SaGa - from Square - established on the Game Boy in 1989
Seiken Densetsu (Mana series of games outside Japan) - from Square - franchise name trademarked in 1987 being originally intended to be established on the Famicom Disk System, but the name was revived for franchise establishment on the Game Boy in 1991
Chrono - from Square - established on the Super Famicom in 1995
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 in 2002
Drakengard - in development for Enix, but published in the Square Enix name - established on the PlayStation 2 in 2003
Radiata Stories - original to Square Enix - established on the PlayStation 2 in 2005
The World of Mana - established on the Nintendo DS in 2006 as a Seiken Densetsu subfranchise

[edit] Film

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. (The film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was produced by now-defunct Squaresoft subsidiary Square Pictures prior to the merger. Its box-office failure was a factor in the Squaresoft financial crunch that created the need for Square to find a partner.)

[edit] Manga

North American cover of Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 1

The company also has a manga publishing division in Japan (from Enix) called Gangan Comics. It publishes manga for the Japanese market only. It also publishes a popular Japanese manga anthology called Monthly Shonen Gangan. Titles published by Gangan Comics include Papuwa, Pani Poni, Spiral and Fullmetal Alchemist. Also contains manga adaptations of diverse Enix, and later 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). 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.

Pani Poni Dash! anime series based on the Pani Poni manga was licensed in North America by ADV Films.