20 Years Ago, Square And Enix Teamed Up To Create An RPG Powerhouse

gamespot.com:

The merger between Square and Enix is celebrating its 20-year anniversary today, April 1, 2023. Below, we take a look back at the social and economic conditions surrounding the deal, from the perspective of a Japanese resident.

20 years ago, the Square-Enix merger created a Japanese gaming Goliath amongst a gaming boom

But there was a lot going on in the background overseas observers weren’t aware of.

It was late 2002 when the announcement came: Two massive Japanese game publishers, Square (known as SquareSoft in the West) and Enix, would be merging into a single company effective April 1, 2003. This meant that the holders of the number one and number two RPG franchises in Japan--Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, respectively--were going to combine their forces. I was living in Japan at the time, and to say it was a big deal was an understatement. The Japanese console gaming market was at a zenith, and optimism about the future of the industry was sky-high. The idea of these two once-rival companies at the forefront of the industry joining forces to create new media experiences was very exciting, to say the least.

Square was first and foremost a game development and publishing company, while Enix was a more multifaceted company, publishing not just software but books and manga as well. Square did much of its game development in-house, while Enix subcontracted with numerous other developers for most of its software output. Both companies had attempted to make a push into Western markets in the early '90s, retreated at the end of the 16-bit generation, and then worked to re-establish themselves overseas during the PlayStation's massive success. Square, through a publishing partnership with Electronic Arts, was doing quite