Square Enix Production Company - Final Fantasy
Square Enix Co., Ltd, is a video game software company that is best known for its Japanese role-playing game series like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest. While it is most known for being a developer, it also acts as a publisher and distribution company that was originally founded in 2003 as a merger between Enix and Square. The company’s headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo at Shinjuku Eastside Square Building. Along with video games, the company has also produced films and a variety of merchandise. The company is also fairly active in the arcade and manga businesses as well.
Enix
Enix (originally Eidansha Boshu Service Center) was formed in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima, an architect that found himself eventually becoming an entrepreneur. The company focused on game development and partnered with various other companies like Chunsoft for Dragon Quest, Enix’s most profitable title. Dragon Quest was released on the Famicom, the first entry of the RPG series that came out in 1986.
Square
Square was founded in 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto and was created to be a computer game software branch of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line construction company owned by his father. At that time, game development was usually carried out by a single programmer, but Miyamoto considered it better for games to be project-based with multiple individuals involved in various roles. In the beginning, Square was largely unsuccessful in its releases on the Famicom, that is, until the release of the role-playing game Final Fantasy, which happened to be partly influenced by Enix’s game, Dragon Quest. The success of Final Fantasy was unparalleled by any other game titles for the company at the time, though they would go on to release a number of other successful titles later in the future, such as Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Xenogears, Brave Fencer Musashi, Parasite Eve, Saga Frontier, Romancing Saga, Vagrant Story, and Kingdom Hearts. In 1994, Square opted to develop for the PlayStation instead of the Nintendo 64, as development costs for the PlayStation were lower due to its disc-based technology.
Game Engines
Square Enix uses two main in-house game engines, Crystal Tools, a game engine that allowed Square Enix to develop games in a 3D format that was also compatible with numerous different consoles, like the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and even the Nintendo Wii, to a certain extent. However, it seems that the Luminous Studio engine has replaced Crystal Tools when newer generations of consoles were introduced. Square Enix also often uses other companies' game engines and programming languages for development, as well (like Epic Games’ Unreal Engines, for example).
Online Gaming
Before merging with Square, Enix released its first online game, Cross Gate, in 2001. Square Enix then released its online title Final Fantasy XI on the Playstation 2, and was later ported to the Xbox 360, becoming the first MMORPG on the console. These games used PlayOnline, a platform-independent online gaming service. Their next online game, which was code-named Rapture, is an MMORPG that was developed using the company’s Crystal Tools engine and was originally announced at E3 2009 and later came to be known as Final Fantasy XIV. In September 2011, the MMORPG Dragon Quest X was announced and was released on the Wii and Wii U in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Square Enix has developed a number of browser and Facebook games. Online games for Yahoo! Japan were created as well. In 2012 it was announced that the company would create a free to play cloud gaming service that would operate through their web browser, but was cancelled in 2013.
Arcade, Film, and Manga
In 2005, arcade developer Taito (known for arcade classics like Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble) merged with Square Enix, which provided Square Enix access to the company's massive holdings of arcade facilities. As such, Square Enix formally entered the arcade market in the year 2005. Since then, Square Enix has continued to produce quality arcade games. Square Enix has produced three films so far, such as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, a 3D computer-animated science-fiction picture that draws from many elements of Final Fantasy games. A formal subsidiary of Square Enix, called Square Pictures, was also formed and has released a number of other motion pictures as well. In addition, the company has a manga publishing division called Gangan comics.
Merchandise
Square Enix has produced merchandise for almost all of its game franchises. For example, a rubber duck Chocobo has been released, along with chocobo coffee mugs and character costumes. There are also a number of figures, game controllers, board games, toys, pencil cases, keychains, cushions, T-shirts, and various other goods inspired by Square Enix’s game titles. Square Enix has also produced merchandise inspired by other popular games, including Halo and Mass Effect as well.