Overview
A Warrior of Light.
A blue slime that probably smiles far too much for a creature people spend so much time hitting.
A Keyblade.
A giant sword almost as famous as the man carrying it.
Crystals.
Kingdoms.
Gods.
Airships.
Worlds that can sometimes take eighty hours before they even begin explaining what they were really trying to say.
Behind a considerable part of the history of modern Japanese RPGs, two names keep appearing:
Square.
Enix.
For decades, they moved forward separately.
Enix published the first Dragon Quest in 1986.
Square launched the first Final Fantasy in 1987.
Then, on April 1, 2003, the two companies merged.
Square Enix was born.
On paper, it almost looks like a matter of simply adding the two catalogues together.
In reality, the story is much more interesting.
Because Square Enix did not merely bring together two collections of games.
The company inherited two ways of building franchises, several generations of creators, an exceptionally strong RPG culture and a considerable number of worlds that now had to be kept alive without simply preserving them behind glass.
Final Fantasy.
Dragon Quest.
Kingdom Hearts.
SaGa.
Mana.
NieR.
Octopath Traveler.
And around those games, a company whose activities extend far beyond video game development alone.
Square Enix plans, develops, publishes and markets entertainment products and services, while also exploiting the group’s intellectual properties in different forms. The group also operates a substantial publishing business covering manga, magazines, books and digital content.
That is probably where its particularity lies.
Square Enix does not simply manage games. It manages worlds that must survive their own generations.
History
Before Square Enix, there were two stories
Square Enix officially came into existence in 2003.
But telling the company’s story starting from that year would be like beginning an RPG directly on the second disc.
On the Enix side, the story goes back to the 1970s. The company that would become Enix Corporation adopted that name in 1982. It also developed publishing activities from the late 1980s onward.
On the Square side, Square Co., Ltd. was founded in 1986.
And almost immediately, both companies helped bring two monuments of Japanese RPG history into existence.
In 1986, Enix published Dragon Quest.
In 1987, Square published Final Fantasy.
Both series would eventually become institutions.
But they did not get there in quite the same way.
Dragon Quest: building a tradition
Dragon Quest quickly established an extremely readable grammar.
A hero.
A journey.
Towns.
Dungeons.
Monsters.
Clear progression.
An adventure capable of becoming enormous while deliberately remaining accessible in its structure.
Across generations, the series has maintained an exceptionally stable identity.
The illustrations of Akira Toriyama, the music of Koichi Sugiyama and the work of Yuji Horii became permanently associated with that identity.
Even as technology evolves, Dragon Quest retains something almost ritualistic.
You recognize the slime.
You recognize the sounds.
You recognize the menus.
You recognize that particular way of turning a grand heroic adventure into something that can also feel warm and familiar.
The first game was released in 1986, and forty years later the franchise remains one of the pillars of Square Enix’s catalogue.
Dragon Quest already illustrates an idea the future company would have to learn how to manage:
how do you evolve a series without destroying the pleasure of returning to it?
Final Fantasy: starting over almost every time
Final Fantasy developed almost the opposite philosophy.
The first game was released in 1987.
But the series does not build a single continuous storyline.
It starts again.
A new world.
New characters.
New rules.
A new mythology.
Some elements return.
Crystals.
Chocobos.
Summons.
Familiar names.
A certain idea of spectacle.
But each main installment can reinvent much of what Final Fantasy is supposed to be.
The result is almost paradoxical.
One of the most famous identities in video games is built on its ability to change identity.
Across generations, Final Fantasy also became a testing ground for technological experimentation.
The series accompanied shifts in hardware and Square’s growing graphical ambitions until it became one of the most internationally recognized Japanese franchises. By 2024, Square Enix reported that cumulative physical and digital sales had surpassed 195 million units.
2003: the two worlds merge
On April 1, 2003, Square Co., Ltd. merged with Enix Corporation.
The new company took the name Square Enix Co., Ltd.
The new organization now brought together under one name two series that, by themselves, represented a considerable part of Japanese RPG history.
But the merger did not mean everything had to become identical.
Final Fantasy remained Final Fantasy.
Dragon Quest remained Dragon Quest.
And that is precisely what would gradually allow Square Enix to develop a portfolio where several creative sensibilities could coexist.
The company had to learn how to become a shared home without turning every room into the same room.
Kingdom Hearts: when boundaries become the concept
Another universe already played a special role at the time of the merger.
Kingdom Hearts, originally launched in 2002 by Square with Disney, combines original characters, Disney worlds and elements drawn from Final Fantasy.
On paper, the idea could have looked like an enormous licensing exercise.
In practice, it became a franchise with a mythology of its own.
Kingdom Hearts demonstrates something important about the future identity of Square Enix:
an intellectual property can become a meeting place between several different imaginations without necessarily losing its own personality.
This logic of crossover — video games, animation, iconic characters, music and merchandise — would become increasingly natural in the way Square Enix approached its major brands.
2005: Taito joins the group
Square Enix quickly expanded its scope.
In 2005, the company acquired Taito Corporation as a consolidated subsidiary, before making it a wholly owned subsidiary in 2006.
The combination is interesting.
Taito brought with it another part of Japanese video game history, particularly arcade gaming and a franchise as fundamental as Space Invaders.
Square Enix therefore did not simply become a group built around RPGs.
It began bringing together several traditions of Japanese gaming.
Console.
PC.
MMO.
Mobile.
Arcade.
Publishing.
Merchandising.
The structure gradually transformed into a genuine entertainment group.
2008: Square Enix also becomes a holding company
In October 2008, a restructuring further separated the group’s functions.
The former Square Enix Co., Ltd. became SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD., the holding company responsible for managing the group.
A new SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. was established to take over operational activities.
The distinction is important for PANACHES CULTURE.
Square Enix Holdings is the parent company.
Square Enix Co., Ltd. is the operating company that plans, develops, publishes and markets entertainment products while also exploiting the group’s IP.
When people talk about Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest or games published under the Square Enix brand, it is generally this second identity they encounter.
2009: becoming much more Western
In April 2009, Square Enix acquired Eidos plc.
The deal significantly changed its international presence.
Eidos brought several major Western studios and franchises with it.
Crystal Dynamics.
Eidos-Montréal.
IO Interactive at the time.
And franchises such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Hitman, Thief and Legacy of Kain.
Square Enix was no longer simply a Japanese company exporting its games around the world.
It also became a group that directly produced part of its catalogue in the West.
That strategy would last for more than a decade.
And it would not be without contradictions.
Final Fantasy XIV: destroy in order to rebuild
One of the most interesting moments in Square Enix’s modern history is Final Fantasy XIV.
The MMO’s original version ran into major problems.
Rather than simply abandoning it, Square Enix committed to a fundamental reconstruction of the project.
The result was Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, whose official service began on August 27, 2013 on PC and PlayStation 3 with a new graphics engine, new areas, a redesigned interface and a deeply revised combat system.
The title gradually became one of Square Enix’s enduring pillars. The group’s financial reports would repeatedly highlight the strength of its MMO business in the years that followed.
This story matters because it shows behavior that remains fairly unusual for a production of this scale.
Square Enix did not simply fix its game.
It practically rebuilt it in public.
The company that spends its daily life protecting franchises several decades old accepted, in this case, that saving one required acknowledging that its first form did not work.
HD-2D: the past does not need to be stuffed and mounted
Another interesting evolution came later with productions such as Octopath Traveler, followed by the HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest.
Square Enix developed an aesthetic capable of combining pixel-art characters, 3D environments, modern effects, depth of field and contemporary lighting.
The idea almost seems obvious once you see it.
It was not.
For a long time, modernizing an old RPG often meant choosing between two solutions:
preserve it almost exactly as it once was;
or rebuild it entirely according to the visual standards of the present.
HD-2D opens a third path.
Evolve the memory rather than replace it.
The formula became important enough to be reused across several productions and now contributes to the way Square Enix revisits its heritage, particularly with the remakes of Dragon Quest III followed by Dragon Quest I & II.
2022: closing a Western chapter
In 2022, Square Enix announced the sale of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix Montréal, along with several associated intellectual properties, to Embracer Group. The transaction notably included Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain.
The transaction was completed in August 2022.
Square Enix explained that it wanted to reassess its studio portfolio and concentrate its resources more effectively as AAA projects became increasingly expensive and complex to produce.
The episode closed an important chapter that had begun with the acquisition of Eidos in 2009.
For thirteen years, Square Enix had attempted to build a structure where major Japanese productions and Western studios coexisted within the same group.
The sale did not mean the end of all international activity.
But it clearly represented a refocusing.
Reboots and Awakens
From 2024 onward, Square Enix formalized a new strategy under the name:
Square Enix Reboots and Awakens.
The group presents the period as a three-year reboot designed to lay the foundations for future growth.
Several changes were set in motion.
Optimize the development organization.
Reduce and more carefully select certain projects.
Strengthen global publishing.
Make better use of intellectual properties.
And above all, for major HD productions, pursue a multiplatform strategy designed to reach more players.
That last evolution is particularly important.
For several years, certain major Square Enix productions had been closely associated with a particular platform.
The company is now seeking to broaden the distribution of its major titles and back catalogue.
In 2026, Square Enix stated that this multiplatform strategy had already contributed to increasing points of contact with audiences and strengthening catalogue sales.
The goal is no longer simply to produce a major game.
It is to avoid unnecessarily limiting its potential audience to a single point of entry.
What sets it apart
Two opposing traditions under the same roof
Square Enix has a particularity almost written directly into its name.
Square + Enix.
Two companies.
Two histories.
Two RPG monuments.
And two very different ways of managing a franchise.
Dragon Quest largely cultivates continuity.
Final Fantasy largely cultivates reinvention.
One often reassures through what it preserves.
The other often fascinates through what it changes.
Square Enix therefore has to make two philosophies coexist that can almost seem contradictory.
And that tension is probably one of its greatest strengths.
Square Enix has to know when a player wants to return home, and when they want the entire house rebuilt before they arrive.
A franchise is not just a sequence of games
Square Enix does not think only in terms of individual titles.
The group exploits its intellectual properties across several activities.
Games.
Manga.
Books.
Music.
Merchandise.
Animation.
Adaptations.
Collaborations.
This logic is particularly visible in publishing.
Square Enix publishes magazines, manga, video game-related books, digital content and light novels. Several of these works later receive adaptations in animation, cinema, television or stage productions.
That creates an interesting circulation.
A company known worldwide for its games can also own works that begin as manga, become anime and then reach an entirely different audience.
Square Enix is therefore not simply a game factory.
It is also a machine for moving worlds between different media.
The RPG as a permanent laboratory
Despite the diversity of the group, RPGs remain central to its video game identity.
But Square Enix does not have a single definition of the genre.
Dragon Quest.
Final Fantasy.
SaGa.
Mana.
Kingdom Hearts.
NieR.
Octopath Traveler.
These series may share certain roots without offering the same experience.
Turn-based combat.
Action.
MMO.
Experimental structures.
Pixel art.
Spectacular 3D.
Open worlds.
Linear adventures.
Square Enix may be easier to understand not as the guardian of a particular RPG formula, but as the guardian of a territory where several forms of Japanese RPG continue to evolve.
Reinventing a heritage without making it unrecognizable
The older a franchise becomes, the more complicated every decision gets.
Change too little:
the game can feel trapped in its past.
Change too much:
it may lose what made people want to return to it.
Square Enix constantly lives with this problem.
Final Fantasy VII Remake does not simply attempt to reproduce a 1997 game with more polygons.
The HD-2D Dragon Quest remakes do not try to erase their original aesthetic either.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn went as far as rebuilding a game that had already been released.
These projects are extremely different.
But they all ask the same question:
what needs to survive when a work moves into another era?
That is probably one of Square Enix’s central questions.
Because few companies have to manage so many memories belonging to so many different generations.
Accepting that one name can mean many things
Square Enix can release a spectacular blockbuster.
A small pixel-art RPG.
An MMO operated for years.
A remake.
A mobile game.
A manga.
A figurine.
A soundtrack.
That diversity can sometimes make the company difficult to read.
But it is also part of its identity.
Square Enix is not Naughty Dog.
It is not FromSoftware.
It is not a studio where a single creative culture necessarily runs through every project.
It is a company that organizes several creative cultures under the same collection of brands and intellectual properties.
That changes the way it should be judged.
The question is not:
“What does a Square Enix game look like?”
There are too many answers.
The better question is:
“How does Square Enix keep so many different forms alive without losing the identities that make them recognizable?”
A company that also learns through restructuring
Square Enix’s history is not a perfectly linear progression.
Merger.
Acquisitions.
Studio creation.
Closures or reintegration.
International expansion.
Sale of part of its Western studios.
Team restructuring.
A new multiplatform strategy.
The group regularly changes its structure in an attempt to respond to an industry changing just as quickly.
Its current strategy acknowledges that fairly explicitly.
The Reboots and Awakens program aims to optimize development, become more selective with investments, strengthen global commercialization and maximize the value of existing IP.
The language is obviously that of a large corporation.
But behind it lies a very concrete creative problem:
how do you continue producing major works when their cost, development time and complexity increase faster than the number of players capable of buying them?
Square Enix’s current answer notably involves broader distribution.
Fewer closed doors.
More platforms.
And a greater effort to continue exploiting games after launch.
Good to know
- Square Enix officially came into existence on April 1, 2003, when Square Co., Ltd. merged with Enix Corporation.
- Enix predates Square. The company that would become Enix dates back to 1975 and adopted the name Enix Corporation in 1982, while Square Co., Ltd. was founded in 1986.
- The first Dragon Quest was released in 1986, while the first Final Fantasy was released in 1987.
- Square Enix is classified here as
entrepriserather thanstudio_jeu, because Square Enix Co., Ltd. is involved in planning, development, publishing, sales and intellectual property exploitation. - Square Enix Holdings and Square Enix Co., Ltd. are not exactly the same entity. Since the 2008 restructuring, Square Enix Holdings has managed the group, while Square Enix Co., Ltd. is responsible for the main entertainment operations in Japan.
- Taito joined the group in 2005 and became a wholly owned subsidiary in 2006.
- Square Enix acquired Eidos in 2009, integrating several major Western studios and franchises into its international organization.
- Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix Montréal were sold to Embracer Group in 2022, along with several associated franchises including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain.
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn officially began service on August 27, 2013, following a fundamental reconstruction of the original MMO.
- Square Enix also operates a significant publishing business, covering manga, magazines, books, digital content and light novels, some of which later receive animated or audiovisual adaptations.
- The group’s current strategy is called “Square Enix Reboots and Awakens” and covers the fiscal years from March 2025 through March 2027. It notably aims to reorganize development and prepare a new phase of growth.
- Square Enix is now pursuing a stronger multiplatform strategy for its major HD productions, with the goal of broadening their audiences and strengthening sales of its existing catalogue.
- In 2026, the group continues to expand the transmedia exploitation of its IP, notably through merchandising, collaborations, manga and their animated or live-action adaptations.