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==History== ===1975-1989: Origins, ''Dragon Quest''=== Enix was founded under the name Eidansha Boshu Service Center on September 22, 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima.<ref name="profile"/> An architect-turned-business entrepreneur, Fukushima initially founded Eidansha as a publishing company focused on advertising [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloids]] for real estate.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|77–81}} On February 5, 1980, Eidansha Boshu created a wholly owned subsidiary Eidansya Fudousan for the purpose of specializing in real estate trading and brokerage, being renamed Eidansha Systems the following year.<ref name="SQEX2019"/> It was based in [[Shinjuku]], [[Tokyo]].<ref name="profile"/> During 1982 Eidansha Boshu made an unsuccessful attempt to become a nationwide chain. Fukushima decided to invest his capital into the emerging video game market; during this period on August 30, Eidansya Fudousan was renamed Enix Corporation.<ref name="paper"/><ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|77–81}} The name Enix was a play on both the mythological [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]], and the early computer [[ENIAC]].<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|77–81}}<ref name="Name"/> Seeking game proposals, Fukushima organized a competition dubbed the "Enix Game Hobby Program Contest" in both computer and manga magazines, offering a prize of [[Japanese yen|¥]]1 million (US$10,000) for a game prototype which could be published by Enix.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|77–81}}<ref name="Chun30th"/> Among the winners were [[Yuji Horii]], then a writer for ''[[Weekly Shōnen Jump]]'', with the sports game ''Love Match Tennis'';<ref name="HoriiAutomaton"/> designer [[Koichi Nakamura]] with the puzzle game ''[[Door Door]]'';<ref name="Chun30th"/> and self-trained programmer [[Kazuro Morita]] with the [[simulation video game]] ''Morita's Battlefield''.<ref name="MoritaBook"/> During the next few years, Enix would publish titles for both the PC market and the fledgling Japanese console market.<ref name="HighScore"/><ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|77–81}} Using his royalties, Morita established the developer Random House and developed several PC and console titles including the ''Morita's Shogi'' series.<ref name="MoritaBook"/><ref name="ASCIIbook"/> In collaboration with Nakamura's new company [[Chunsoft]], Horii notably created the [[adventure game]] ''[[The Portopia Serial Murder Case]]'' (1983), then during discussions around a port of the game to the Famicom ([[Nintendo Entertainment System]]) Horii and Nakamura decided to develop a [[role-playing video game]] (RPG) for the platform.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|84–89}} The RPG, titled ''[[Dragon Quest (video game)|Dragon Quest]]'', began development in 1985.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|84–89}}<ref name=Essential50/> Horii and Nakamura acted as designers, composer [[Koichi Sugiyama]] created the score for the game, and ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' artist [[Akira Toriyama]] was brought on board for art design.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|84–89}}<ref name="ToriyamaArtwork"/> While meeting with initially slow sales, ''Dragon Quest'' became a critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies in Japan.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|84–89}}<ref name=Essential50/> The success of ''Dragon Quest'' spawned a [[Dragon Quest|franchise of the same name]], which would become Enix's highest-grossing property.<ref name="HighScore"/><ref name="profile"/> Horii, Sugiyama and Toriyama remained mainstays with the series.<ref name="DQIXcomments"/> Chunsoft developed the next five ''Dragon Quest'' titles.<ref name="Chun30th"/> While the ''Dragon Quest'' series proved successful, Enix continued publishing PC titles to maintain financial stability.<ref name="powerup"/>{{Rp|77–81}} The company also began selling merchandise themed after ''Dragon Quest'' in 1988 with character statues and toys, expanding to board and card games the following year.<ref name="EnixMerch"/> In October 1983, Enix co-founded Konishiroku Enix with [[Konica|Konishiroku Photo Company]], later purchasing all shares in January 1989. A second subsidiary, Enix Products, was established in March 1988 for the sale of publications and character merchandise. Both subsidiaries along with the original Enix were merged into their parent company Eidansha Boshu in April 1989, which renamed itself Enix Corporation.<ref name="SQEX2019"/><ref name="Timeline"/> ===1990-1999: Publishing and collaborations=== In 1990, Enix published their first third-party console title ''[[ActRaiser]]'' for the Super Famicom. The game was developed by [[Quintet (company)|Quintet]], a Japanese independent developer made up of former [[Nihon Falcom]] staff.<ref name="Untold"/> Enix acted as publisher for all of Quintet's subsequent Super Famicom games in Japan.<ref name="gamefan97"/> Enix had begun publishing guidebooks for the ''Dragon Quest'' series,<ref name="EnixMangaC"/> between 1988 and 1991 the company decided to make print publication their second major business section alongside video game publishing. This was to ensure their income did not entirely depend on ''Dragon Quest''.<ref name="EnixMangaA"/><ref name="EnixMangaB"/> This eventually led to Enix launching the ''[[Gangan Comics]]'' imprint family, beginning with ''Monthly Shonen Gangan'' March 1991.<ref name="EnixMangaC"/><ref name="EnixPubEng"/> Following its first publication with ''Monthly Shonen Gangan'' in March 1991, several other manga imprints with magazine and ''[[tankōbon]]'' editions were created for different genres including ''Monthly G-Fantasy'' and ''Monthly Shonen Gag-OU''.<ref name="EnixPubEng"/> The company also expanded their merchandise range to include other notable series including ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' and ''[[Pokémon]]''.<ref name="EnixMerch"/> In February 1991, Enix registered with the Japan Securities Dealers Association to offer shares for public purchase.<ref name="SQEX2019"/> Following ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' (1992), Chunsoft left as main series developer, wanting to create their own titles.<ref name="Chun30th"/> In the years following, Chunsoft continued collaborating with Enix on spin-off ''Dragon Quest'' titles including early entries in their ''[[Mystery Dungeon]]'' franchise.<ref name="Chun30th"/><ref name="Maestro"/> The next two entries were developed by [[Heartbeat (company)|Heartbeat]], a company founded by former Chunsoft staff dedicated to developing ''Dragon Quest'' titles.<ref name="HBpage"/><ref name="HeartEnd"/> Heartbeat would handle main series production until going on sabbatical in 2002.<ref name="HeartEnd"/><ref name="Remake"/> From 1994, Enix acted as publisher for Horii's ''[[Itadaki Street]]'' series, taking over the series from ASCII.<ref name="Street"/> They also frequently acted as publisher for titles from Tamtam,<ref name="Tamtam"/> and created the ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters]]'' spin-off series with developer [[Tose (company)|Tose]].<ref name="ToseFamitsu"/> Enix were initially pitched unsuccessfully by [[Namco Tales Studio|Wolf Team]] with ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'', which was ultimately published by [[Namco]] in 1995.<ref name="LevelInterview"/> Enix later acted as publisher for ''[[Star Ocean (video game)|Star Ocean]]'' (1996), developed by former ''Tales of Phantasia'' staff members who split from Wolf Team to form [[tri-Ace]].<ref name="SO5interview"/><ref name="SOinterviews"/> In partnership with Enix, tri-Ace developed three further ''Star Ocean'' titles,<ref name="TriSO2"/><ref name="BlueSphere"/><ref name="SO3interview"/> and the [[Norse mythology]]-inspired RPG ''[[Valkyrie Profile (video game)|Valkyrie Profile]]'' (1999).<ref name="TriVP"/> Enix also notably helped publish two Western console titles; ''[[Riven]]'' (1998) and ''[[Tomb Raider III]]'' (1999).<ref name="EnixRiven"/><ref name="EnixTR3"/> In August 1996, Enix moved from Shinjuku to offices in [[Shibuya]].<ref name="SQEX2019"/> In contrast to other companies at the time, which were leaving behind cartridge-based [[Nintendo 64]] for the disc-based [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], Enix announced in 1997 that they would publish titles for both platforms.<ref name="EnixNintendo"/> They later stated their intention to develop for the [[GameCube]].<ref name="EnixGC"/> In August 1999, Enix was listed on [[Tokyo Stock Exchange]]'s first section, which includes the largest companies on the exchange.<ref name="SQEX2019"/> ===2000-2003: Internal troubles, merger=== Beginning in the early 2000s, Enix's manga publishing division went through a period of turbulence as several editors expressed dissatisfaction with Enix's focus on ''Dragon Quest'' media and the ''[[Shōnen manga|shōnen]]'' demographic, a growing lack of creative freedom, and rising tensions between authors and editors.<ref name="MatsuzakiA"/><ref name="MatsuzakiB"/> Editor Yoshihiro Hosaka and a number of other ''Gangan'' associates founded [[Mag Garden]] in 2001, which became a market rival through the ''[[Monthly Comic Blade]]'' magazine.<ref name="GardenHistoryA"/> Mag Garden's foundation triggered a mass departure of creatives and legal battles with Enix over manga copyright ownership. The issues were resolved in 2003 when Enix agreed to partially invest in Mag Garden.<ref name="GardenHistoryA"/><ref name="GardenHistoryB"/> The manga division's troubles were lessened with the beginning of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', which proved highly popular.<ref name="MatsuzakiB"/> Enix also suffered from financial losses due to the delayed releases of ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'' (2000) and ''[[Dragon Warrior Monsters 2|Dragon Quest Monsters 2]]'' (2001).<ref name="paper"/><ref name="Losses1"/><ref name="Losses2"/> Some notable titles begun or announced during the 2000s were [[PlayStation 2]] titles in the ''[[Grandia]]'' series,<ref name="Remake"/><ref name="G2enix"/> the [[massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPG]] ''[[Fantasy Earth Zero|Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion]]'' from [[Vanillaware|Puraguru]],<ref name="4GvanillaInterview2"/> and the [[action role-playing game]] ''[[Drakengard (video game)|Drakengard]]'' from [[Cavia (company)|Cavia]].<ref name="DrakengardEnix"/> In 2001, citing the rising cost of game development, Enix expressed interest in merging with either [[Square (video game company)|Square]] or [[Namco]].<ref name="EnixMerger"/> They ultimately began talks with Square, a market rival and developer of the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' franchise. Talks were temporarily halted when Square suffered financially due to the failure of the 2001 feature film ''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within]]''.<ref name="hesitant"/> Following the commercial success of ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' (2001) and ''[[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'' (2002), talks went ahead on the merger with Enix as Square's finances stabilized; Square's then-CEO [[Yoichi Wada]] described it as a merger of two companies "at their height".<ref name="ua89H" /> Despite this, some shareholders had doubts about the merger, notably Square's founder [[Masafumi Miyamoto]], who would find himself holding significantly less shares and having a smaller controlling stake if the deal went ahead as initially planned.<ref name="RPGFmiyamoto"/> Miyamoto's issue was resolved by altering the exchange ratio to one Square share for 0.85 Enix shares, and the merger was greenlit.<ref name="3i4VG" /> The merger resulted in [[Square Enix]] being formed on April 1, 2003, with Enix as the surviving corporate entity and Square dissolving its departments and subsidiaries into the new company.<ref name="3i4VG" /><ref name="EnixSurvive"/> Enix's last two published titles were ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart]]'', both in 2003.<ref name="EnixSO3"/><ref name="EnixLast"/> ''Fantasy Earth'' and ''Drakengard'' were published after the merger.<ref name="4GvanillaInterview2"/><ref name="DrakengardSQEX"/>
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