Editing Enix (section)

===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"/>