Square Enix Europe

Square Enix Limited

Trading name	Square Enix Europe
Type	Subsidiary of Square Enix
Industry	Interactive entertainment Computer and video games
Predecessor	Eidos Interactive
Founded	1988 (as The Sales Curve) 2005 (as Eidos) 2009
Founder	Jane Cavanagh (as The Sales Curve) Yoichi Wada & Phil Rogers (as Square Enix Europe)
Headquarters	12th & 13th Floor, 240 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NW, England, UK
Key people	Tim Ryan (Chairman of the Board) Phil Rogers (CEO)
Products	Tomb Raider series Final Fantasy series Dragon Quest series Kingdom Hearts series Hitman series Deus Ex series Kane & Lynch Thief series Legacy of Kain series Sleeping Dogs
Owner	Independent (1988-2009) Square Enix (2009-present)
Number of employees	870 (2007)^[1]
Parent	Independent (1988-2009) Square Enix (2009-present)
Website	square-enix.com

Square Enix Limited,^[2] doing business as Square Enix Europe, is a British publisher of video game software wholly owned by Square Enix, a Japanese company. Square Enix Europe has its head office in the 240 Blackfriars Road in London Borough of Southwark, London.^[3]

Square Enix Europe was originally the now-defunct Eidos plc, when it was the holding company for the Eidos group of companies, including United Kingdom video game publisher Eidos Interactive, which is responsible for the Just Cause, Tomb Raider and Hitman games, among others. It is the successor to Square Enix Ltd. and Eidos Interactive and will distribute and publish both Eidos and Square Enix's games under the Square Enix label. After the takeover of Eidos plc, Namco Bandai Partners handed over the Australian distribution rights of Eidos to Ubisoft Australia, which have a distribution deal with Square Enix.

After a successful takeover by Square Enix which came into effect on 22 April 2009, shares of Eidos officially de-listed on 21 April 2009 a day before the takeover. The name Eidos plc ceased to be used following a reorganisation of the Eidos Group, after which all previous Eidos properties were published under Square Enix and Eidos Interactive now as a part of Square Enix Europe.^[4]

On 15 September 2014 Square Enix Europe officially relocated its HQ from Wimbledon Bridge House, 1 Hartfield Road, London SW19 3RU to 12th & 13th Floor, 240 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NW. In 2015 layoffs were reported for the London headquarters.^[5]

History

Beginnings as SCI

The company was founded as The Sales Curve in 1988 by Jane Cavanagh, originally developing games for publishers Virgin, Accolade and Ocean. The Sales Curve became a publisher itself in 1990, releasing games under the label Storm until 1993. The company became Sales Curve Interactive in 1994 and published subsequent games under that name. In 1999 the company floated on the London Stock Exchange as SCI Entertainment Group PLC, using the ticker symbol SEG.

Under the SCI banner, the company's most popular games were the Carmageddon and the Conflict: Desert Storm game series.

SCI purchase of Eidos

In 2005 the company gained ownership of Eidos Interactive, another British games company. Since then the company has been exclusively releasing games under the Eidos brand.

In December 2006, Time Warner's Warner Bros. Entertainment has bought a 10.3% stake in SCI Games, including sister company, Eidos. Part of the deal between the two companies includes an arrangement with Eidos to make Warner Bros. its primary U.S. distributor, providing warehousing, logistics, merchandising and media buying services.^[6] In April 2008, Warner Bros. Entertainment increased its stake to 35% while gaining distribution rights to SCI titles in the US, Canada and Mexico.^[7]

In February 2007, Eidos closed its Manchester studio which focused in Mobile games and acquired Rockpool Games, another mobile game company, along with its two sister companies Ironstone Partners and SoGoPlay.^[8]

On 27 October 2008, SCI scrapped a "standstill" arrangement with Time Warner subsidiary Warner Bros. The agreement – which had been in place since April – prevented Warner Bros. from acquiring more SCI shares without the Eidos parent’s consent until January 2009. SCI said it would now allow Warner Bros to buy more shares without consultation until December 1, 2008 – providing its stake did not reach 30 percent. Subsequently SCI's share price rose 11%.^[9] On December 15, 2008, Time Warner purchased 10 million more shares in Eidos to bring its total to 19.92%.^[10]

On 3 December 2008, SCI changed its name to Eidos Plc (the former name of Eidos prior to the SCI takeover), and also changed its London Stock Exchange ticker symbol from SEG to EID.^[11] On 15 January Eidos confirmed that it received a preliminary approach which may not lead to an offer being made for the Company.^[12]

In January 2009, they closed Rockpool Games.^[13]

Square Enix purchase of Eidos

Eidos plc former logo

On 12 February 2009 SQEX Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Square Enix, announced a takeover offer worth £84.3 million (32p per share) for Eidos plc.^[14] The takeover is effective as of 22 April. According to Square Enix president Yoichi Wada, the company Eidos will remain independent and Phil Rogers will remain CEO of the company.^[15]

On 7 July 2009, Square Enix announced the formation of its European division, officially named Square Enix Europe. The Eidos name will cease to be used as a publisher, though existing Eidos Interactive studios will keep the name.^[4]^[16]

On 10 November 2009, Square Enix officially announced that the integration of their European operations as well as Eidos has been completed and the two entities will merge into one under the name of Square Enix Europe and will operate under the business name of Square Enix Ltd. This means that future titles by Eidos will no longer be published under the Eidos brand but Square Enix instead. Square Enix Europe will publish all games developed by Square Enix, Eidos and Taito. It will also manage various development studios, namely Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive, Beautiful Game Studios, Square Enix London Studios and Eidos Montréal.^[17]

Studios

Current

Crystal Dynamics in Redwood City, California (Official site), founded in 1992, acquired in 1998.
IO Interactive in Copenhagen, Denmark (Official site), founded in 1998.
Eidos Montreal in Canada (Official site), founded in 2007
Beautiful Game Studios in London, England (Official site), started in 2003
Eidos Shanghai in China (Official site), started in 2008
Square Enix London Studios in London, England, started in 2009
Square Enix Montreal in Canada (Official site), founded in 2012

Part-owned

Rocksteady (25.1%) (Official site)

Defunct

Eidos Hungary in Hungary, founded in 2005, closed October 2009.
Pivotal Games in Bath, England, founded in March 2000, acquired by SCi on 29 September 2003, closed 22 August 2008.
Core Design in Derby, England, founded in 1988, acquired by Eidos on 1996, closed 11 May 2006.
Ion Storm in Texas, founded in 1996, acquired by Eidos on July 2001, closed 9 February 2005.