Square Enix
| Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Public | ||
| Founded | September 22, 1975 (Enix) September 1986 (Square Co.) April 1, 2003 (as Square Enix) October 1, 2008 (as Square Enix Holdings) | ||
| Headquarters | |||
| Key people | Yasuhiro Fukushima Yosuke Matsuda Phil Rogers | ||
| Industry | Video Games | ||
| Products | Various Video Games | ||
| Employees | 4,335 (2018) | ||
| Website | Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. | ||
| Article on Wikipedia | Square Enix | ||
Square Enix (株式会社スクウェア・エニックス・ホールディングス) is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, and distribution company. It is best known for making role-playing video game franchises, including such well-known titles such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Chrono, Mana, SaGa, Drakengard/NieR, and (in collaboration with Disney) Kingdom Hearts. The company as it exists today is a merger between former giants Square and Enix.
Square started in 1983 as a division of the Den-Yu-Sha powerline company dedicated to video game development before spinning off into an independent company in 1986. Enix started in 1975 as a tabloid publisher and real estate brokerage firm, but shifted to video games in 1982. Following a mutual period of financial decline, and then recovery, both companies merged on April 1st, 2003 after 3 years of negotiations.
Although pre-merger Square famously abandoned Nintendo consoles in favour of the PlayStation due to then-declining relations between companies, and Nintendo's choice to not use CD-ROM for the Nintendo 64, relations were patched between them over the following years. Post-merger, Square Enix has produced a strong number of Nintendo exclusives including The World Ends with You, the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, the Bravely series, Octopath Traveler, and several Mario games: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario Sports Mix, Itadaki Street DS, and Fortune Street. Square Enix has also acquired the Taito Corporation, bringing numerous franchises including Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble into the Square Enix fold.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 received representation via a sticker of Diddy Kong holding a basketball.
In Super Smash Bros. 4[edit]
One of Square Enix's flagship characters, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4, announced during a Nintendo Direct on November 12th, 2015 as downloadable content along with a stage based on Midgar, the songs "Let the Battles Begin!" and "Fight On!", and a Chocobo Mii Fighter hat.
In addition to Cloud, Geno from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars appears as a DLC costume for the Mii Gunner.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Cloud returns as a playable character, along with the Midgar stage and its two accompanying tracks, "Let the Battles Begin!" and "Fight On!", and 2 spirits, which are the renders of Cloud's first and second alternate costumes respectively. Sephiroth was also added as a DLC newcomer in December 2020, as part of Challenger Pack 8, along with a new stage, nine new music tracks, and several new Spirits as part of Challenger Pack 8. Alongside Sephiroth's release, a Barret Wallace costume for the Mii Gunner, a Tifa Lockhart costume for the Mii Brawler, an Aerith Gainsborough costume for the Mii Swordfighter, and the returning Chocobo Mii Fighter hat were made available.
The Hero from Dragon Quest also appears as part of Challenger Pack 2, being announced at E3 2019. He is not based on one single Hero; he is represented by the Luminary from Dragon Quest XI, Erdrick from III, Solo from IV, and Eight from VIII, with the Luminary being the default costume. He brings a stage, several music tracks, and a multitude of spirits. Additionally, multiple Dragon Quest Mii Costumes released at the same time, including Veronica and Erdrick for the Mii Swordfighter, a male and female Martial Artist costume for the Mii Brawler, and a Slime as a Mii Fighter hat.
Sora from the Square Enix-developed and published Kingdom Hearts also appears as part of Challenger Pack 11, being announced on October 5, 2021 and released on October 18, 2021. He comes with a new stage, ten music tracks, and eight spirits. It should be noted that the Kingdom Hearts series itself, including the characters, is fully owned by Disney.
Geno and Mallow from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars make an appearance as Spirits, and the former's Mii Gunner costume made a return as DLC. Duran, Angela, Kevin, Charlotte, Hawkeye, and Riesz from Trials of Mana debuted in the Spirit Board event, "The Spirits of Mana", on April 24th, 2020 as a tie-in to the release of the game's remake. Obleric, Primrose, Tressa, Cyrus, Alfyn, Therion, H'aanit, and Ophilia from Octopath Traveler debuted in the Spirit Board event "Second Anniversary of OCTOPATH TRAVELER" on July 10th, 2020. Seth, Gloria, Elvis, and Adelle from Bravely Default II debuted in the "BRAVELY DEFAULT II" Spirit Board event on February 26th, 2021 as a tie-in to the game's launch.
Gallery[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- Square Enix is the first third-party company to join the Super Smash Bros. series via DLC.
- All three Square Enix playable characters have at least one alternate costume that changes their model (Cloud’s Advent Children costume, the Dragon Quest III, IV, and VIII Heroes, and Sephiroth’s coatless costume).
- When counting the four Heroes separately, Square Enix has the most playable characters of any third-party company, with six in total (those being Cloud, Luminary, Erdrick, Solo, Eight, and Sephiroth).
- Square Enix is tied with Capcom for the most Mii Costumes at 9, with 7 set costumes and 2 hats.
| Companies involved in the Super Smash Bros. series | |
|---|---|
| First- and second-party | Nintendo (Monolith Soft · Retro Studios) · HAL Laboratory · Game Freak · Creatures · Intelligent Systems · Rare Ltd. · Sora Ltd. |
| Third-party | Konami · Sega (Atlus) · PlatinumGames · Capcom · Bandai Namco · Square Enix · Microsoft (Rare Ltd. · Mojang Studios) · SNK · Disney |
| Other related | Game Arts · Hatena · Havok · Paon DP · Tri-Crescendo · List of companies with minor representation |