110-741: Durarara!! ( デュラララ!! ) , shortened to DRRR!! in some official materials, is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita , with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda . Durarara!! tells the story of a dullahan working as an underworld courier in Ikebukuro , an internet-based anonymous gang called the Dollars, and the chaos that unfolds around the most dangerous people in Ikebukuro. The series ran for thirteen volumes, published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint . A sequel series, titled Durarara!! SH set two years after
220-414: A dullahan who is in Ikebukuro looking for her stolen head while working as an underworld courier. The narrative follows all of the characters equally, showing how their lives intersect and create a greater plot line from each character's knowledge about a common incident. The story is told from the perspective of approximately eleven of the main characters, with the perspective changing in every episode in
330-575: A holding company and was renamed Square Enix Holdings. At the same time, the development and publishing businesses were transferred to a spin-off company named Square Enix, sharing the same corporate leadership and offices with the holding company. The primary offices for Square Enix and Square Enix Holdings are in the Shinjuku Eastside Square Building in Shinjuku , Tokyo. Currently, focusing in different industries,
440-427: A manga art style and are often adapted into manga and anime . While most light novels are published only as books, some have their chapters first serialized monthly in anthology magazines before being collected and compiled into book format, similar to how manga is published. Light novels developed from pulp magazines . Plots frequently involve romantic comedy and isekai fantasy. To please their audience, in
550-567: A strategic alliance and cooperation with Japanese and French video game companies, Bandai Namco Entertainment and Ubisoft ; it has served as the Japanese publisher of video games and crossover productions since 2009. In March 2014, following the success of Bravely Default , Square Enix said it will "go back to their roots" and focus on creating content that will appeal to their core audience. Karl Stewart, vice president of strategic marketing at Square Enix for North America and Europe, left
660-576: A "common 3D format" that would allow the entire company to develop titles without being restricted to a specific platform: this led to the creation of a game engine named Crystal Tools , which is compatible with the PlayStation 3 , the Xbox 360 , Windows -based PCs , and to some extent the Wii . It was first shown off at a tech demo shown off at E3 2005 and was later used for Final Fantasy XIII based on
770-487: A "large company". Square was started in October 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto as a computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line construction company owned by his father. While at the time, game development was usually conducted —by only one programmer, Miyamoto believed that it would be more efficient to have graphic designers, programmers and professional story writers working together. In September 1986,
880-715: A 30 percent premium, but Tecmo rejected the proposed takeover. Tecmo would later merge with Koei in April 2009 to form Koei Tecmo . In April 2007, Square Enix Ltd. CEO John Yamamoto also became CEO of Square Enix, Inc. In 2008–2009, Square Enix was reportedly working with Grin on a Final Fantasy spin-off codenamed Fortress . The project was allegedly canceled by Square Enix after introducing seemingly impossible milestones and without payments made, resulting in Grin declaring bankruptcy and its co-founders blaming Square Enix for being "betrayed". In February 2009, Square Enix announced
990-499: A 70% to 80% share of the market. In 2009, light novels made ¥30.1 billion in sales, or about 20% of all sales of bunkobon format paperback books in Japan. There are currently many licensed English translations of Japanese light novels available. These have generally been published in the physical dimensions of standard mass market paperbacks or similar to manga tankōbon , but starting in April 2007, Seven Seas Entertainment
1100-475: A blockchain business division. After the merger in 2003, Square Enix's development department was organized into eight Square and two Enix Product Development Divisions ( 開発事業部 , kaihatsu jigyōbu ) , each focused on different groupings of games. The divisions were spread around different offices; for example, Product Development Division 5 had offices both in Osaka and Tokyo. According to Yoichi Wada,
1210-869: A business model with frequent customer interactions, noting Kickstarter as an example. In March 2013, Square Enix India opened in Mumbai; however the office was closed in April 2014 and reopened five years later. As well as Square Enix Latin America in Mexico, which was closed in 2015. A mobile studio called Smileworks was founded in Indonesia in June 2013; however it was closed in January 2015. In 2014, Square Enix Collective launched, an indie developer service provider headed by Phil Elliot. Also in 2014, Square Enix signed
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#17327827514501320-484: A collaboration with Bigpoint Games to create a free-to-play Cloud gaming platform that "throws players into 'limitless game worlds' directly through their web browser". The service was launched under the name CoreOnline in August 2012. Stating "limited commercial take-up", the service was cancelled on November 29, 2013. In September 2014, a cloud gaming company called Shinra Technologies (previously Project Flare )
1430-553: A new brand for younger children gaming that same year, known as Pure Dreams. Pure Dreams' first two games, Snoopy DS: Let's Go Meet Snoopy and His Friends! and Pingu's Wonderful Carnival , were released that year. After acquiring Eidos in 2009, Square Enix combined it with its European publishing wing to create Square Enix Europe , which continues to publish Eidos franchises such as Tomb Raider (88 million sales), Deus Ex (4 million), Thief and Legacy of Kain (3.5 million). Square Enix has also served as
1540-565: A new title, Creative Business Unit. Naoki Yoshida , who was previously the head of Business Division 5, became the head of Creative Business Unit III. Creative Business Unit III was renamed Creative Studio III in May 2024. The current structure for the development and production division called Creative Business Unit is as follows: In those five divisions, most of the development is done outside of Square Enix under contracted development companies, while Creative Business Unit produces and oversee
1650-550: A reputation as being "mass-produced and disposable," an extreme example being Kazuma Kamachi who wrote one novel a month for two years straight, and the author turnover rate is very high. As such, publishing companies are constantly searching for new talent with annual contests, many of which earn the winner a cash prize and publication of their novel. The Dengeki Novel Prize is the largest, with over 6,500 submissions (2013) annually. They are all clearly labeled as "light novels" and are published as low-priced paperbacks. For example,
1760-729: A result of the merger, Enix was the surviving company and Square Co., Ltd. was dissolved. In July of that year, the Square Enix headquarters were moved to Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, to help combine the two companies. To strengthen its wireless market, Square Enix acquired mobile application developer UIEvolution in March 2004, which was sold in December 2007, and the company instead founded its own Square Enix MobileStudio in January 2008 to focus on mobile products. In January 2005, Square Enix founded Square Enix China, expanding their interests in
1870-446: A series that continues to the present. Buoyed by the success of their Final Fantasy franchise, Square developed notable games and franchises such as Chrono , Mana , Kingdom Hearts (in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company ), and Super Mario RPG (under the guidance of Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto ). By late 1994 they had developed a reputation as a producer of high-quality role-playing video games. Square
1980-497: A show, all introduced at once, it's a wild ride with something for everyone". Crunchyroll staff also included it in such a list; writer Sergio Vaca said, "Despite including numerous elements, the anime manages to have multiple characters show us different perspectives of these events, making us feel really involved with the story and always keeping us on the edge of our seats with unexpected twists". Light novel A light novel ( Japanese : ライトノベル , Hepburn : raito noberu )
2090-498: A similar increase in popularity as it has in the Japanese subculture once it becomes recognized by the consumer audience. Popular literature has a long tradition in Japan. Even though cheap, pulp novels resembling light novels were present in Japan for years prior, the creation of Sonorama Bunko in 1975 is considered by some to be a symbolic beginning. Science fiction and horror writers like Hideyuki Kikuchi or Baku Yumemakura started their careers through such imprints. Another origin
2200-527: A statement. Square Enix Europe was hit with layoffs and Life President Ian Livingstone departed from the company in September 2013. It said with the fiscal year report in March 2013, sales of Tomb Raider (2013) and Hitman: Absolution were weak, despite critical acclaim. The North American sales force was said to be ineffective and price pressure was intense. Matsuda noted the long development time of their important games and said they need to shift to
2310-484: A takeover deal for Eidos (formerly SCi Entertainment), the holding company for Eidos Interactive . The UK-based publisher's assets include Tomb Raider , Hitman , Deus Ex , Thief , and Legacy of Kain franchises, along with subsidiary development studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and IO Interactive that developed the games. The acquisition of Eidos was completed in April 2009, and in November it
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#17327827514502420-788: A venture to publish more light novels in the United States. The leader of this, publisher Yen Press , is a joint venture between Hachette Book Group (which owns 49%) and Japanese publisher Kadokawa (which owns 51%). Other publishers such as Seven Seas Entertainment , Viz Media (owned by Shogakukan and Shueisha ), Vertical (owned by Kodansha USA ), One Peace Books , J-Novel Club (owned by Kadokawa), Cross Infinite Worlds , Sol Press have all been making an effort to publish more light novels in English. Additionally, light novel authors have been starting to make guest appearances overseas at anime conventions. The 2019 Anime Expo , one of
2530-428: A web novel initially published in 2002, contributed to the popularization of 'Isekai' as a genre. This web novel became extremely popular, forming various adaptations such as an anime, manga, and even various movies and spinoff series. Because of the success of Sword Art Online , other novels such as KonoSuba, Overlord and Re:Zero became increasingly more popular. The success of Sword Art Online and 'isekai' as
2640-433: A week in its bunkobon for February 7–13; previously, the highest-ranked DRRR!! volume had been the eighth, which ranked second. By March 2018, the light novel had over 5.6 million copies in circulation. In a 2019 Forbes ' article about the best anime of the 2010s decade, Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2010; she wrote: "With one is [ sic ] the largest casts I've ever seen in
2750-605: A whole contributed to the creation of write-your-own fiction websites in Japan and increasing popularity of light novels in the west as well. The Kadokawa Group's local subsidiary, Kadokawa Taiwan ( Chinese : 台灣角川 ; pinyin : Táiwān Jiǎochuān ), translated and sold Chinese versions of their own light novels in Taiwan and Hong Kong , after being established as the first overseas branch in 1999 by Kadokawa Japan. In 2007, Chingwin and Shueisha signed an exclusive contract to publish Super Dash Bunko and Cobalt Bunko under
2860-594: A year. The cours are subtitled Shō ( 承 , lit. "Understanding") , Ten ( 転 , lit. "Motion") , and Ketsu ( 結 , lit. "Conclusion") respectively. The first cour began in January 2015, the second cour began in July 2015, and the third cour began in January 2016. Crunchyroll simulcasts the series in North America, Central America, South America, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Aniplex of America licensed
2970-415: A young boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city, moves to Ikebukuro to attend Raira Academy with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida, whom he has not seen since he was young. After the two meet at the train station, they set out to explore the streets of Ikebukuro. Masaomi warns Mikado about people he does not want to cross in the city such as the violent and superhumanly strong man Shizuo Heiwajima,
3080-491: Is Enix's Fullmetal Alchemist manga series, which has been adapted into two anime television series, five movies (two animated, three live-action), and several novels and video games. Other polymorphic projects include the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII , Code Age , World of Mana , Ivalice Alliance , and Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy subseries. According to Yoichi Wada , "It's very difficult to hit
3190-627: Is a type of popular literature novel native to Japan , usually classified as young adult fiction , generally targeting teens to twenties . The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbreviation of " raito noberu " is ranobe ( ラノベ ) or, in English, LN . The average length of a light novel is about 50,000 words, and is published in the bunkobon format ( A6 , 10.5 cm × 14.8 cm [4.1 in × 5.8 in]). Light novels are subject to dense publishing schedules, with new installments being published in 3–9 month intervals. Light novels are commonly illustrated in
3300-570: Is also a magazine called Tenman Light Novels , which established a Newcomer's Award and says that the awards for the best full-length works may even be presented in Japan. Additionally, translated versions of other works such as Nisio Isin 's Katanagatari have also been published in China . In South Korea , Daewon C.I. , Haksan Publishing and Seoul Cultural Publishers, Inc are known to translate many popular Japanese titles, and they are easily available at larger bookstores. The publication pace
3410-456: Is also in the business of merchandise , arcade facilities , and manga publication under its Gangan Comics brand. The original Square Enix Co., Ltd. was formed in April 2003 from a merger between Square and Enix , with the latter as the surviving company. Each share of Square's common stock was exchanged for 0.85 shares of Enix's common stock. At the time, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square employees. As part of
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3520-408: Is believed that the development of the engine has halted permanently. Luminous Engine was originally intended for eighth-generation consoles and unveiled at E3 2012 through a tech demo titled Agni's Philosophy . The first major console title to be developed with Luminous Engine was Final Fantasy XV ; the engine's development was done in tandem with the game, and the game's development helped
3630-546: Is headed by Jon Brooke and Lee Singleton. John Heinecke was appointed as CMO for Americas and Europe in October 2018. Baba departed the studio in early 2019, and shortly after this, Studio Istolia was closed, and Project Prelude Rune cancelled following an assessment of the project, with its staff being reassigned to different projects within the company. In 2019, Square Enix opened an Indian office again, now in Bangalore , which expanded into publishing mobile games for
3740-480: Is licensed in North America by Yen Press who released the first volume in January 2012. A manga adaptation of the Durarara!! 3way standoff -alley- video game was serialized from the September issue of ASCII Media Works' monthly Sylph magazine released on July 22, 2013 to the October issue released on August 22, 2014 and was collected in two volumes. Another two-volume adaptation of Durarara!! Relay video game
3850-526: Is occurring at a time when both companies are at their height." Some shareholders expressed concerns about the merger, notably Miyamoto (the founder and largest shareholder of Square), who would find himself holding a significantly smaller percentage of the combined companies. Other criticism came from Takashi Oya of Deutsche Securities, who expressed doubts about the benefits of such a merger: "Enix outsources game development and has few in-house creators, while Square does everything by itself. The combination of
3960-505: Is quite fast, and it can be said that Korea is one of the countries outside of Japan that accepts Japanese light novels the most. Like in other countries, there are awards as well. In the United States , hundreds of different light novels have been translated into English, the two largest publishers being Yen Press and Seven Seas Entertainment . The success of anime adapted from light novels, such as Sword Art Online , along with
4070-517: Is the serialization of Record of Lodoss War in the magazine Comptiq . Kim Morrissy of Anime News Network reported that Keita Kamikita, the system operator of a science fiction and fantasy forum, is usually credited with coining the term "light novel" in 1990. After noticing that the science fiction and fantasy novels that had emerged in the 1980s were also attracting anime and manga fans because of their illustrations by famous manga artists , Kamikita avoided using terms like "young adult" because
4180-488: The Final Fantasy franchise, begun in 1987, is the best-selling, with a total worldwide sales of over 173 million units as of March 2022. The Dragon Quest franchise, begun in 1986, is also the best-selling; it is considered one of the most popular game series in Japan and new installments regularly outsell other games at the times of their release, with a total worldwide sale of over 85 million units. More recently,
4290-854: The Kingdom Hearts series (developed in collaboration with Disney beginning in 2002) has become popular, with 36 million units shipped as of March 2022. Other popular series developed by Square Enix include the SaGa series with nearly 10 million copies sold since 1989, the Mana series with over 6 million sales since 1991, and the Chrono series with over 5 million sold since 1995. In addition to their sales numbers, many Square Enix games have been highly reviewed; 27 Square Enix games were included in Famitsu magazine's 2006 "Top 100 Games Ever", with 7 in
4400-402: The Durarara 10th anniversary project , a port with new minigames titled Durarara!! 3way standoff -alley- V ( デュラララ!! 3way standoff -alley- V ) was announced; and was released on June 19, 2014, for PlayStation Vita . Another PlayStation Vita game titled Durarara!! Relay was released in January 2015. According to Oricon , the ninth volume of Durarara!! was the first to sell the most over
4510-412: The Durarara!! SH novels for release. A manga adaptation of the first arc, written by Narita and illustrated by Akiyo Satorigi first appeared in the May issue of Square Enix 's Monthly GFantasy in April 2009 and became a regular series starting with the magazine's July issue released June 2009. Four tankōbon have been released. The sequels, starting with Durarara!! Saika Arc followed. The manga
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4620-523: The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and Dragon Quest X on the Wii . Square Enix has also developed titles for handheld game consoles , including the Game Boy Advance , Nintendo DS , PlayStation Portable , Nintendo 3DS , and PlayStation Vita . Also, they have published games for Microsoft Windows -based personal computers and various models of mobile phones and modern smartphones. Square Enix mobile phone games became available in 2004 on
4730-645: The Vodafone network in some European countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. Before its launch, Michihiro Sasaki, senior vice president of Square Enix, spoke about the PlayStation 3 , saying, "We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them, but we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much." Square Enix continued to reiterate their devotion to multi-platform publishing in 2007, promising more support for
4840-733: The 1970s, most of the Japanese pulp magazines began to put illustrations at the beginning of each story and included articles about popular anime , movies and video games . The direction of light novels evolved to cater to newer generations of readers, with light novels becoming fully illustrated in the popular art style. The popular serials then began to be printed in their now known novel format. Often light novels are chosen to be adapted into manga , anime, and live-action films. Some of them are serialized in literary magazines such as Faust , Gekkan Dragon Magazine , The Sneaker and Dengeki hp , or media franchise magazines like Comptiq and Dengeki G's Magazine . Light novels have
4950-478: The Crystals , and online games for Yahoo! Japan , such as Monster x Dragon , Sengoku Ixa , Bravely Default: Praying Brage , Star Galaxy , and Crystal Conquest . In 2013, Dragon Quest X was brought to iOS and Android in Japan using NTT DoCoMo as the release platform and Ubitus for the streaming technology. In 2014, it was also brought to 3DS in Japan using Ubitus. On May 8, 2012, Square Enix announced
5060-515: The G-cluster streaming service. With the merger of Taito businesses into Square Enix, the company gained possession of Taito's arcade infrastructure and facilities and entered the arcade market in 2005. In 2010 Taito revealed NESiCAxLive , a cloud-based system of storing games and changing them through the internet instead of acquiring physical copies. This system was added to its many arcade gaming locations. The company continues to cater to
5170-601: The Indian market in 2021. In June 2020, Square Enix donated $ 2.4 million to charities around their Western studios and offices, which were partially raised from sales of its discounted Square Enix Eidos Anthology bundle. In March 2021, Forever Entertainment, a Polish studio, was reported to be working to bring several of Square Enix's properties to modern systems. A new mobile studio called Square Enix London Mobile, working on Tomb Raider Reloaded and an unannounced title based on Avatar: The Last Airbender with Navigator Games,
5280-412: The Japanese publisher for Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft games since 2009. In May 2022, Square Enix sold several assets of Square Enix Europe $ 300 million to Embracer Group, including former Eidos Interactive franchises such as Tomb Raider , Deus Ex , Thief , Legacy of Kain and more than 50 others. Square Enix owned franchises and games include: In 2004, Square Enix began to work on
5390-772: The Kadokawa Group and Cobalt Bunko in Germany, for which publishing is done by Carlsen Verlag . A web novel is a literary work that is published mainly or exclusively on the Internet. Web novels offer authors the opportunity to share their stories directly online in a continuous format, reaching a wide audience. In Japan, many light novels begin as web novels before being revised and published in print. This model allows authors to receive valuable feedback from readers and further develop their works before physical publication. The low entry barrier also provides unknown authors with
5500-489: The North American and European gaming markets where console pluralism is generally more prevalent than in Japan. Their interest in multi-platform development was made evident in 2008 when the previously PlayStation 3 -exclusive game Final Fantasy XIII was announced for release on the Xbox 360 . In 2008, Square Enix released their first game for the iPod , Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes . Square Enix made
5610-573: The People's Republic of China. In September 2005, Square Enix bought the gaming developer and publisher Taito , renowned for their arcade hits such as Space Invaders and the Bubble Bobble series; Taito's home and portable console games divisions were merged into Square Enix itself by March 2010. In August 2008, Square Enix made plans for a similar expansion by way of a friendly takeover of video game developer Tecmo by purchasing shares at
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#17327827514505720-436: The PlayStation 2 and later the personal computer. With the huge success of Final Fantasy XI , the game was ported to the Xbox 360 two years later and was the first MMORPG on the console. All versions of the game used PlayOnline , a cross-platform internet gaming platform and internet service developed by Square Enix. The platform was used as the online service for many games Square Enix developed and published throughout
5830-484: The PlayStation. A merger between Square and Enix was considered since at least 2000; the financial failure in 2001 of Square's first movie, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within , made Enix reluctant to proceed while Square was losing money. With the company facing its second year of financial losses, Square approached Sony for a capital injection, and on October 8, 2001, Sony purchased an 18.6% stake in Square. Following
5940-462: The U.S. PlayStation Network Video Store. The anime began its U.S. broadcast on Cartoon Network 's Adult Swim programming block on June 26, 2011, and aired its last episode on December 18, 2011. On March 15, 2014, a new TV anime series was announced, titled Durarara!!×2 ( デュラララ!!×2 ) . The main staff from the first series returned, though it was produced at studio Shuka instead of Brain's Base. It aired in three different cours, or quarters of
6050-501: The anime, sometimes even more often. One of the few constants given in every episode is that the narrator gives his own opinion on the current situation that he is in as well as talking about what things that make them tick and keep them going in Ikebukuro: a city with a large underbelly that is the medium for the majority of both the plot's development and random violence throughout the series. Although it has commonly been claimed that
6160-501: The biggest Anime conventions of the year, featured creators such as Kumo Kagyu, author of Goblin Slayer , and Fujino Omori, the author of Is It Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? . One popular genre in the light novel category is isekai ( 異世界 ) or "different world" stories. In these stories usually feature an ordinary person that is transported from a modern city life to a world of fantasy and adventure. Sword Art Online,
6270-439: The chance to gain recognition and build a fan base without relying on the support of a traditional publisher. Square Enix Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational holding company , video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing game franchises, such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest , among numerous others. Outside of video game publishing and development, it
6380-543: The company is divided as the following: Five Creative Business Units for game development and production in Square Enix Co., Ltd; a dedicated publishing business unit for manga and books publishing; a digital storefront business division for their e-Store and merchandise production; their media and arts business unit for music production, concert and live performance coordination, and visual contents production (live action, animation, and CG for TV, movies, and games); and
6490-403: The company that month. In 2015, Square created a new studio known as Tokyo RPG Factory to develop what was then dubbed Project Setsuna . Around 2015, Square Enix's Western divisions began "officially working across LA and London". In January 2017, Norwegian studio Artplant purchased former Eidos franchise Project I.G.I. On February 21, 2017, the formation of a new studio Studio Istolia
6600-660: The company's 43rd annual shareholders' meeting, which is planned for June 2023, and the board meeting which will follow ahead on the 20th anniversary of the merger. Kiryu succeeded on May 18 and was seen as part of the Final Fantasy XVI launch event as one of his first appearances in public. In March 2024, Square Enix announced it would be more selective with the games it develops, resulting in numerous unannounced titles being cancelled. The company lost ¥22.1 billion (approximately $ 140 million) due to "content abandonment." On October 1, 2008, Square Enix transformed into
6710-440: The company's model for development after the success of Square's Final Fantasy VII in 1997. The team size for Final Fantasy XIII peaked at 180 artists, 30 programmers, and 36 game designers, but analysis and restructuring were done to outsource large-scale development in the future. Square Enix's primary concentration is on video gaming, and it is primarily known for its role-playing video game franchises. Of its properties,
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#17327827514506820-487: The company's most profitable franchise. Despite the announcement that Enix's long-time competitor Square would develop exclusively for PlayStation , Enix announced in January 1997 that it would release games for both Nintendo and Sony consoles. This caused a significant rise in stock for both Enix and Sony. By November 1999, Enix was listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange 's first section, indicating it as
6930-627: The company. In the 1980s, in a partnership with developers Chunsoft , the company began publishing the Dragon Quest series of console games. Key members of the developer's staff consisted of director Koichi Nakamura , writer Yuji Horii , artist Akira Toriyama , and composer Koichi Sugiyama , among others. The first game, Dragon Warrior , in the Famicom-based RPG series, was released in 1986 and would eventually sell 1.5 million copies in Japan, establishing Dragon Quest as
7040-481: The decade. Due to the success of their MMORPG , Square Enix began a new project called Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion . GamePot, a Japanese game portal, received the license to publish Fantasy Earth in Japan, and it was released in Japan as "Fantasy Earth ZERO." In 2006, however, Square Enix dropped the Fantasy Earth Zero project and sold it to GamePot. Square Enix released Concerto Gate ,
7150-421: The demo's reception. Crystal Tools was also used for Final Fantasy Versus XIII before its re-branding as Final Fantasy XV and its shift onto next-gen platforms. Refinement of the engine continued through the development of Final Fantasy XIII-2 , and it underwent a major overhaul for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII . Since that release, no new titles have been announced using Crystal Tools, and it
7260-651: The development department was reorganized away from the Product Development Division System by March 2007 into a project-based system. Until 2013, the teams in charge of the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series were still collectively referred to as the 1st Production Department ( 第1制作部 , dai-ichi seisakubu ) . The 1st Production Department was formed from the fall 2010 combination of Square Enix's Tokyo and Osaka development studios, with Shinji Hashimoto as its corporate executive. In December 2013, Square Enix's development
7370-547: The division was spun off into an independent company led by Miyamoto, officially named Square Co., Ltd. After releasing several unsuccessful games for the Famicom , Square relocated to Ueno, Tokyo in 1987 and developed a role-playing video game titled Final Fantasy , which was inspired by Enix 's success in the genre with the 1986 Dragon Quest . Final Fantasy was a success with over 400,000 copies sold, and it became Square's leading franchise, spawning dozens of games in
7480-537: The events of the original series, started in 2014. A manga adaptation of the same name , first illustrated by Akiyo Satorigi and later by Aogiri, has been serialized in Square Enix 's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy since July 2009. A 24-episode anime television series adaptation was broadcast from January to June 2010. It was followed by a 36-episode second season, titled Durarara!!×2 , broadcast from January 2015 to March 2016. Mikado Ryūgamine,
7590-464: The first season was composed by Makoto Yoshimori , who also wrote the music for Baccano! . Aniplex of America released Durarara!! in three digipak , two-disc sets. Part one was released on January 25, 2011, part two was released on March 29, 2011, and part three was released on May 31, 2011. They were exclusively sold at RightStuf.com and at Bandai Entertainment 's The Store. As of March 29, 2011, Durarara!! (Eps. 1–9, dubbed) have been added to
7700-702: The following quarter, released in September 2022, Matsuda said they were moving away from outright owning studios due to rising costs of development, but were looking at means to invest in studios such as joint ventures or investment opportunities. In 2022, Square Enix invested in seven business strategic cooperations in the blockchain and cloud services such as Zebedee (United States), Blocklords (Estonia), Cross The Ages (France), Blacknut (France), Animoca Brands -owned The Sandbox (Australia and Hong Kong), and Ubitus (Japan). On February 28, 2023, Square Enix Holdings announced that on May 1, Luminous Productions would reorganize and merge with Square Enix internally, citing
7810-673: The holding company Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., while its internally domestic video game operations were formed under the subsidiary Square Enix Co., Ltd. The group operates American, Chinese and European branches, based in Los Angeles , Beijing , Paris , Hamburg and London respectively. Several of Square Enix's franchises have sold over 10 million copies worldwide after 2020, with Final Fantasy selling 173 million, Dragon Quest selling 85 million, and Kingdom Hearts shipping 36 million. In 2005, Square Enix acquired arcade corporation Taito . In 2009, Square Enix acquired Eidos plc ,
7920-401: The information broker Izaya Orihara, and the mysterious gang known as "The Dollars". After running into some of the side characters, Mikado sees a local legend called the "Black Rider" who is rumored to have no head and rides around Ikebukuro on a black motorcycle that occasionally neighs like a horse. The "Black Rider"'s real name is Celty Sturluson; she is a creature from Irish folklore known as
8030-483: The jackpot, as it were. Once we've hit it, we have to get all the juice possible out of it". Similar to Sony's Greatest Hits program, Square Enix also re-releases their best-selling games at a reduced price under a label designated "Ultimate Hits". The standard game design model Square Enix employs is to establish the plot, characters, and art of the game first. Battle systems, field maps, and cutscenes are created next. According to Taku Murata , this process became
8140-417: The merger, former Square president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while former Enix president Keiji Honda was named vice president. Yasuhiro Fukushima, the largest shareholder of the combined corporation and founder of Enix, became chairman . In October 2008, Square Enix conducted a company split between its corporate business and video game operations, reorganizing itself as
8250-501: The merging of the two would "enhanced the group’s abilities to develop HD games" for the 20th anniversary. On March 3, Square Enix issued a statement announcing a proposed change to the position of its president and representative director that, if implemented, would result in Yosuke Matsuda stepping down and being succeeded by Takashi Kiryu, who is presently the company's director. The change will become effective upon approval at
8360-441: The most celebrated artists from pixiv and the most successful works are adapted into manga, anime, games and live-action movies. Since the mid-2000s, it has become increasing popular for publishers to contact authors of web fiction on their blog or website to publish their work in print form. The material is often heavily edited and may even feature an altered story, which might compel someone who had already read it online to buy
8470-529: The most recent Final Fantasy VII Remake . Unity has also been used internally for titles including I Am Setsuna , Lost Sphear , and SaGa: Scarlet Grace . The Squirrel language had also been used for the WiiWare title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King . Before the merger, Enix published its first online game Cross Gate in Japan, mainland China, and Taiwan in 2001, and Square released Final Fantasy XI in Japan in 2002 for
8580-497: The name Elite Novels. Subsequently, GA Bunko and HJ Bunko , which were slowly starting to gain popularity in Japan, also signed exclusive contracts with local publishers. As time went on, the original exclusive contracts were gradually opened to other publishers. Translated versions of Kadokawa works are published by Kadokawa's Chinese subsidiary, Guangzhou Tenmon Kadokawa Doman Co. Ltd. In addition to Japanese light novels, there are works by Chinese as well as Taiwanese authors. There
8690-483: The novels did not appeal to one particular demographic. The 1990s saw the smash-hit Slayers series which merged fantasy-RPG elements with comedy. Some years later MediaWorks founded a pop-lit imprint called Dengeki Bunko , which produces well-known light novel series to this day. The Boogiepop series was their first major hit which soon was animated and got many anime watchers interested in literature. Dengeki Bunko writers continued to slowly gain attention until
8800-555: The parent company of British game publisher Eidos Interactive , which was then absorbed into its European branch. Square Enix is headquartered at the Shinjuku Eastside Square Building in Shinjuku , Tokyo , along with a second office at Osaka . It has over 5,000 employees worldwide through its base operations and subsidiaries. Enix was founded on September 22, 1975, as Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Japanese architect-turned-entrepreneur Yasuhiro Fukushima. Enix focused on publishing games, often by companies who exclusively partnered with
8910-426: The past statement and said the money from the sale will be used to strengthen the company's core games business. On July 25, 2022, Square Enix launched the English version of Manga Up! . The acquisition was closed by August 26, 2022, with the assets being held under CDE Entertainment which is headed from London by Phil Rogers, former CEO of Square Enix Americas and Europe. In the company's financial statement for
9020-570: The price for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in Japan is ¥540 (including 5% tax), similar to the normal price for trade paperbacks—light novels and general literature—sold in Japan. In 2007 it was estimated (according to a website funded by the Japanese government) that the market for light novels was about ¥20 billion (US$ 170 million at the exchange rate at the time) and that about 30 million copies were published annually. Kadokawa Corporation 's publishing subsidiary , which owns major labels like Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko and Dengeki Bunko , has
9130-411: The print release as well. The free novel publication website Shōsetsuka ni Narō is a popular source for such material. Popular works like Sword Art Online , That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime , Overlord , Re:Zero and KonoSuba were originally popular web novels that got contacted by a publisher to distribute and publish those stories in print format. In recent times, there has been
9240-462: The programming team optimize the engine. In addition to Luminous Engine and custom engines made for individual games and platforms before and since Square Enix often uses other companies' engines and programming languages for their video game properties. Epic Games ' Unreal Engine 3 was used for games such as The Last Remnant , and more recently, Unreal Engine 4 has been used for projects including Dragon Quest XI , Kingdom Hearts III , and
9350-425: The remake of Live A Live , while the team was mainly present to oversee, produce, concept, while the studios do the bulk of the project under their direction. The business model of post-merger Square Enix is centered on the idea of "polymorphic content", which consists of developing franchises on multiple potential media rather than being restricted by a single gaming platform. An early example of this strategy
9460-442: The rights to Carmageddon from Square Enix. In July 2011, it was reported that Square Enix closed their Los Angeles Studio. In January 2012, Square Enix North American office could pursue smaller niche, mobile and social media games due to its existing revenue streams. In October 2012, Square Enix was perceived as a "force in mobile" games by Kotaku . The price of Final Fantasy Dimensions and Demons' Score, $ 30 and $ 44 respectively,
9570-547: The sale will further help it in investment into blockchain and other technologies, and to "assist the company in adapting to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources". Square Enix also stated that it would retain the Life Is Strange , Outriders , and Just Cause franchises. However, during the Japanese publisher's full-year financial results briefing on May 13, president Yosuke Matsuda clarified
9680-728: The sequel to Cross Gate , in 2007. A next-gen MMORPG code named Rapture was developed by the Final Fantasy XI team using the company's Crystal Tools engine. It was unveiled at E3 2009 as Final Fantasy XIV for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows and would be released on September 30, 2010. Dragon Quest X was announced in September 2011 as an MMORPG being developed for Nintendo 's Wii and Wii U consoles, which released on August 2, 2012, and March 30, 2013, respectively. Like XIV , it used Crystal Tools. Square Enix also made browser games and Facebook games, like Legend World , Chocobo's Crystal Tower and Knights of
9790-437: The series and is streaming an English dub via Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu . An internet radio show called Durarara!!Radio: Duraradi for Short!! ( デュラララ!!ラジオ 略して デュララジ!! , Durarara!!Rajio Ryakushite Duraraji!! ) was aired on February 26, 2010, and ended as of March 25, 2011. The hosts were Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Kana Hanazawa , the voices for Mikado Ryūgamine and Anri Sonohara respectively. Two games based on
9900-553: The series have been released, both visual novels . The first one titled Durarara!! 3way standoff ( デュラララ!! 3way standoff ) was released for PlayStation Portable on September 22, 2010. An updated version with new routes, also for the PSP, titled Durarara!! 3way standoff -alley- ( デュラララ!! 3way standoff -alley- ) was released on August 25, 2011. It was also ported to Android under the title Durarara!! 3way standoff "mob" ( デュラララ!! 3way standoff "mob" ) on November 22, 2011. As part of
10010-608: The small light novel world experienced a boom around 2006. After the huge success of the Haruhi Suzumiya series, the number of publishers and readers interested in light novels suddenly skyrocketed. Light novels became an important part of the Japanese 2D culture in the late 2000s, with series such as A Certain Magical Index selling large amounts of copies with each volume release. The number of light novels series put out every year increases, usually illustrated by
10120-486: The success of both Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts , the company's finances stabilized, and it recorded the highest operating margin in its history in the fiscal year 2002. It was announced on November 25, 2002, that Square and Enix's previous plans to merge were to officially proceed, intending to decrease development costs and to compete with foreign developers. As described by Square's president and CEO Yoichi Wada: "Square has also fully recovered, meaning this merger
10230-409: The surge in popularity of the isekai genre has helped to make light novels more mainstream. Furthermore, online book stores, particularly Amazon Kindle , have a tendency to overly recommend light novel titles after a customer has purchased one which, along with Ebooks being more accessible than physical books, has boosted their sales. In Europe , TOKYOPOP mainly translated and publishes works by
10340-412: The time of the merger, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square employees. As part of the merger, former Square president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while former Enix president Keiji Honda became its vice president. The founder of Enix and the largest shareholder of the newly combined corporation, Yasuhiro Fukushima, was made its honorary chairman. As
10450-542: The title "Durarara" is an onomatopoeia for the "revving of an engine", Narita states specifically in the first light novel volume that the name means absolutely nothing. He had been editing the finished draft of his book, when his editor called. When prompted for a title, Narita "...just randomly gave a name, 'Du...Durarara?'" Upon hearing this, his editor responded with a positive remark as he liked ambiguous titles." The Durarara!! light novels are written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda. The first novel
10560-473: The title done by those developers. All of the internal development done by Creative Business Units are for titles such as mainline Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, while their mid-size and smaller titles have the development outsourced to other companies for most of the cases such as "Team Asano" led by Tomoya Asano , a team of producers from Creative Business II who had Artdink and Netchubiyori developing Triangle Strategy or Historia developing
10670-490: The top 10 and Final Fantasy X claiming the number 1 position. The company also won IGN 's award for Best Developer of 2006 for the PlayStation 2. Square and Enix initially targeted Nintendo home consoles with their games, but Square Enix currently develops games for a wide variety of systems. In the seventh generation of video game consoles , Square Enix released new installments from its major series across all three major systems, including Final Fantasy XIII on both
10780-420: The two provides no negative factors but would bring little in the way of operational synergies." Miyamoto's concerns were eventually resolved by altering the exchange ratio of the merger so that each Square share would be exchanged for 0.85 Enix shares rather than 0.81 shares, and the merger was greenlit. The merger was set for April 1, 2003, on which date the newly merged entity Square Enix came into being. At
10890-432: Was simulcasted for English-speaking audiences within 24 hours of its Japanese premiere. The anime adapted the first three novels, and it was licensed by Beez Entertainment for European release; while at Anime Expo 2010, Aniplex of America confirmed that they have the license to Durarara!! , later producing an English dub for a January 2011 release. The English dub was produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment . The music for
11000-423: Was announced on 20 October 2021. On May 1, 2022, Square Enix announced that it would sell several assets of subsidiary Square Enix Limited to Swedish games holding company Embracer Group for $ 300 million. This included studios Crystal Dynamics , Eidos-Montréal , and Square Enix Montreal , IPs Deus Ex , Legacy of Kain , Thief , and Tomb Raider and rights to "over 50 games". Square Enix stated that
11110-520: Was announced. The studio, headed by Hideo Baba , would be working on the new RPG Project Prelude Rune . In November 2017, IO Interactive conducted a management buyout from Square Enix and the Hitman IP was transferred to the studio. In September 2018, COO Mike Sherlock died, with Square Enix's executive team assuming his immediate responsibilities. In 2018, Square Enix branded their third party publishing division Square Enix External Studios , which
11220-461: Was created; however, it was closed in January 2016. On October 9, 2014, Square Enix launched another online game service in Japan called Dive In , which allowed players to stream console games to their iOS or Android devices. The service was monetized by the amount of time the players spent playing, with each game offered for free for thirty minutes. The service was cancelled on September 13, 2015. Some Square Enix games are available in Japan on
11330-538: Was criticized. On March 26, 2013, citing sluggish sales of major Western games, Square Enix announced major restructuring, expected loss of ¥10 billion and resignation of President Yoichi Wada, whom Yosuke Matsuda replaced. Phil Rogers was elected as a new Director, among others. With the restructuring, Square Enix of America CEO Mike Fischer left the company in May, with former Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers becoming CEO of Americas and Europe. Further executive changes at Square Enix Western studios were mentioned in
11440-526: Was merged with Square Enix's European publishing organization, business unit Square Enix Europe . Eidos' US operations were merged with Square Enix Incorporated. In April 2010, a new Japanese label for Western games bearing CERO restrictions called Square Enix Extreme Edges was announced. In July 2010, Mike Fischer was appointed CEO of Square Enix, Inc. Square Enix founded the mobile development studio Hippos Lab in March 2011 and Square Enix Montréal in 2012. In June 2011, Stainless Games had purchased
11550-602: Was one of the many companies that had planned to develop and publish their games for the Nintendo 64 , but with the cheaper costs associated with developing games on CD-based consoles such as the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation , Square decided to develop titles for the latter system. Final Fantasy VII was one of these games, and it sold 9.8 million copies, making it the second-best-selling game for
11660-605: Was published by the Taiwan branch of Kadokawa Media under their Fantastic Novels imprint. Daewon C.I. licensed the Korean-language release of the series in South Korea and released the novels under their Newtype Novels imprint. As of January 2015, it was announced that Yen Press would be releasing the Durarara!! novels in English under their Yen On Imprint. In October 2020, Yen Press announced it had licensed
11770-427: Was released in April 2004 under ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint and the thirteenth and final novel was released in January 2014. A sequel series, titled Durarara!! SH ( デュラララ!! SH , Durarara!! SH ) , started in 2014. Four volumes of Durarara!! SH have been released, but the series has not continued, likely due to Narita's health conditions. A Chinese-language release in Taiwan and Hong Kong
11880-402: Was restructured into 12 Business Divisions. In 2017, Business Division 9 was merged into Business Division 8, while Business Divisions 11 and 12 merged to become the new Business Division 9, while a new Business Division 11 was created with some staff from Business Division 6. In 2019, Square Enix announced that their eleven Business Divisions would be consolidated into four units by 2020 with
11990-468: Was serialized in the same magazine from October 22, 2014 to November 21, 2015. A crossover manga with Yozakura Quartet , titled YZQ ✕ DRRR!! , was released with the limited edition Blu-Ray of Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~ . An anime adaption of the light novels was announced in the wraparound sleeve of the sixth volume of the light novel. The anime is produced by Brain's Base and started airing on January 8, 2010, on MBS , TBS , and CBC . The anime
12100-493: Was the first English publisher to print light novels in their original Japanese bunkobon format. Other United States English-language publishers that license light novels are Tokyopop , Viz Media , DMP , Dark Horse , J-Novel Club , Yen Press (Kadokawa's American joint-venture with Hachette Book Group ), and Del Rey Manga . The founder of Viz Media, Seiji Horibuchi, speculates that the US market for light novels will experience
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