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Square Enix
| Overview | Game Series | Game List | Discography | Composers |
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Date of Formation: | April 1, 2003 (from Enix and Square merger) |
| Location: | Tokyo | |
| President: | Yoichi Wada | |
| Head Composer: | Masashi Hamauzu | |
| Productions: | Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts Mana, SaGa, Front Mission, Grandia, Star Ocean |
Square Enix was formed by the merger of Dragon Quest publisher Enix and Final Fantasy creator Square on April 1, 2003 following the financial crisis caused by Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The company's eight internal developments principally focus on developing games for the Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Mana, SaGa, and Front Mission series, while work on the Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, Grandia, Drakengard, and Valkyrie Profile series is usually outsourced.
The company has a small but productive sound team headed by Masashi Hamauzu. The other composers are Junya Nakano, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Kumi Tanioka, Naoshi Mizuta, Takeharu Ishimoto, and Hidenori Iwasaki. The company is fondly remembered for the colourful RPG scores by Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda, Kenji Ito, and Hiroki Kikuta, all who have worked with the company since becoming freelancers. These days the company often focuses on electronic and rock scores.
They have recently acquired Arcade developer Taito, best known for the Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Ray, and Darius series, who have a resident sound team called Zuntata. Square Enix are a common subject of live concerts, have a sizeable discography, and are also host to two bands, The Black Mages and The Star Onions. They are highly profitable due to the success of their major series and anticipated to become one of the top three video game publishers in the next two years.
