Post
The 2003 merger that controls Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest — and spent the early 2020s losing money on everything else.
Formed in 2003 by the merger of Square (Final Fantasy) and Enix (Dragon Quest), Square Enix sits on the two most valuable JRPG franchises in history. The 2010s saw expansion into Western development (Eidos: Tomb Raider, Deus Ex), live-service (Final Fantasy XIV's miraculous A Realm Reborn turnaround), and increasingly speculative bets (NFTs, blockchain). The 2022 sale of Eidos and the 2024 strategic reset under new CEO Takashi Kiryu signal a refocus on flagship IP and multi-platform releases. The PlayStation-exclusive era for Final Fantasy XVI and FF7 Rebirth is widely seen as a strategic miss.
Example
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013) is the most famous MMO comeback in history — the original 2010 launch was so disastrous Square Enix officially apologized, took the game offline, rebuilt it from scratch under new director Naoki Yoshida, and re-launched. By 2024 it had crossed 30M total accounts.
Why it matters
Square Enix controls more legacy JRPG IP than anyone, and is the most visible test case for whether 'platform exclusivity' is still worth the upfront money in the multi-platform era. Its strategic shifts shape the trajectory of the entire JRPG genre.
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