subject: Origins Of Square Enix [print this page] It is hard to believe that Square Enix, now a mighty game company, once was doomed to fail in the 1980s. According to the Wikipedia page compiled at Tinkrbox, a video/website bookmarking site, Square was founded in Yokohama in September 1983 by Masaumi Miyamoto after he graudated from Waseda.
In 1985, Square entered the Nintendo Famicom market. It was in September 1986 that Square became an independent company named as Square Co., Lt. Hinorobu Sakaguchi, originally a part-time employee became a full-time employee with the title of Director of Planning and Development.
According to a video compiled at Tinkrbox, the company was running low on cash around 1987. Squaresoft was on the verged of bankruptcy. So they pooled all its resources in developing a game with Sakaguchi heading the development team. He had to make this game a success else the company would shut down. The game ironically named Final Fantasy, which at that time they believed it is the last game they would ever make.
This game turned out to be success and saved the company from bankruptcy. Squaresoft began to churn out massive titles on a constant basis, such as Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and 10 within five years alongside titles like Chrono Cross and Vagrant Story. After the failed outing of their feature film debut in Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, they saw a sharp downturn in profits and were faced with tough times.
After a near buyout by Sony itself, Squaresoft stabilized for a while. Eventually, it accepted a buyout offer from Enix in 2003 and would become Square Enix. Its been a long and windy road, but the worlds RPG giant is still going strong. As of now, Square Enix is developing yet another Final Fantasy series.
