Square Enix

Formed in April 2003 through the merger of Square and Enix, the Japanese publisher consolidated two of the industry's most successful role-playing game legacies. Prior to the merger, Square was celebrated for its groundbreaking Final Fantasy franchise, while Enix held immense cultural significance in Japan with the Dragon Quest series. The combined entity leveraged these properties alongside Kingdom Hearts, a collaborative action-RPG series featuring Disney characters, and the Chrono and Mana series.

The company expanded its global footprint by establishing international subsidiaries and publishing Western-developed titles. This expansion brought classic properties, including Star Control II and Off-World Interceptor, under its corporate umbrella. In the decades following the merger, the publisher diversified into mobile gaming, amusement facilities, and manga publishing through its Gangan imprint. In 2022, the firm divested many of its Western studios and intellectual properties to Embracer Group, refocusing its primary development efforts on its domestic franchises and online services, such as the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV.