Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Square Enix's Subdivisions (1985-2024)

 Hello everyone, the past months I have been spending a lot of my energy researching the way Square Enix's subdivisions are categorized. There is a lot of incomplete information and confusion regarding this, but after I spent countless hours researching from forum posts, magazine scans, archived articles, and lots and lots of cross referencing. While this might not be 100% airtight is some corners, I am proud to say this is the very best I could do with my thorough research on the internet. I hope this helps a lot of fans to further understand how the inner machinations of Square Enix work.

 This research was primarily organized to be curated on the Internet Game Database (IGDB.com), and I want to thank SudoShadow and Austin to give me their blessing on fixing the content that was archived on the website.

 I want to give special thanks to Sora96 from the KH13.com forums, the staff of OGDB.eu, the Game Developers Research Institute (GDRI), and everyone else in the fandom that has been doing their part online all these years.

  1. 1985-1996

    • Square: From outstanding games on personal computers, to the console classics we got to love.
    • Disk Original Group (DOG): a publishing venture to collaborate with other small developers to compete on the Famicom Disk System market.
    • Square Osaka Development Department: Formed by some ex-Xtalsoft staff, the Osaka department would create games like Final Fantasy Legend III and Live A Live.
    • SquareSoft USA: The original American publishing division made to localize their games abroad. They would notably develop Secret of Evermore.

  2. 1996-2003:

    • Square Product Development Divisions (SPDD):
    Square had grown so successful with Final Fantasy and other groundbreaking releases on Game Boy and SNES that they prepared for even grander releases on PlayStation. Split in 6 divisions: SPDD1: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts SPDD2: SaGa, Mana SPDD3: Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Final Fantasy XI SPDD4: Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story SPDD5: Einhänder, Brave Fencer Musashi, All-Star Pro Wrestling SPDD6: Front Mission, Blue Wing Blitz, Another Mind
    • The Game Designers Studio: A shell company created by Square to bypass certain aspects of their exclusivity deal with Sony. They would release Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
    • Square USA: The Redmond division would move to Los Angeles. They would be briefly known as Square LA, but quickly rebranded as they would open another division in Honolulu. They'd research and develop on CGI, and notoriously develop Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy IX.
    • Aques: A short-lived splinter brand from Square to publish and develop non-RPGs.
    • Digicube: A retail management company designed to specialize on marketing for convenience stores and vending machines.


  3. 2003-2013:

    • Square Enix Product Development Divisions (SEPDD):
    In 2003 Enix Corporation would acquire the assets of Square in a symbiotic deal, Enix desired Square's presence on the West while Square wanted a stable ground to keep developing their titles from. The company would restructure in 10 divisions: 8 dedicated on Square properties, and 2 for Enix ones. SEPDD1: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts SEPDD2: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, The Last Remnant, Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song SEPDD3: Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV SEPDD4: Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre SEPDD5: Musashi Samurai Legend, Kingdom Hearts (Secondary Entries), Code Age SEPDD6: Front Mission SEPDD7: Hanjuku Hero, Bravely Default, GBA Final Fantasy Ports SEPDD8: Mana SEPDD9: Dragon Quest SEPDD10: Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Drakengard, Lord of Vermilion, Fullmetal Alchemist
    • Square Enix 1st Production Department: In 2007 Square Enix would begin to organize their subdivisions by projects, and to emphasize the importance of their flagship properties like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, they pushed the 1st Production Department for the releases with highest priority. This would formally boost the relevance of the formerly abandoned Osaka studio. (SPDD5/SEPDD5)
    • Team Asano: The team behind Bravely Default. They would gradually acquire fame from within SEPDD7.
    • Square Enix Europe: After the acquisition of Eidos Interactive in 2009, they would name the umbrella of the acquired properties as "Square Enix Europe".
    • Square Enix Mobile: A division formed on 2004 solely dedicated to branch to mobile games before the explosion of smartphones.

  5. 2013-2019:

    • Square Enix Business Divisions (SEBD):
    In 2013 the company would go through a new restructure following their formal expansion to modern mobile and browser based games. They would eventually be divided in 12 parts, however further reorganization in 2017 got them back to 11; some of these divisions would merge onto others. SEBD1: Final Fantasy XIII, Mobius Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VII Remake SEBD2: Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy Agito SEBD3: World of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts (support) SEBD4: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Dissidia SEBD5: Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Quest Builders SEBD6: Dragon Quest, Nier, Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler SEBD7: Arcade games, Lord of Vermilion, School of Ragnarok SEBD8: Mana, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Imperial SaGa, iOS ports SEBD9: Sangokushi, Guardian Codex, Deadman's Cross, Mobile Games SEBD10: Million Arthur, Chaos Rings, Mashiro Witch SEBD11: 2013-2017: Mobile Games / 2017-2019: Team Asano SEBD12: Fantasy Earth Genesis, Schoolgirl Strikers, Pop Up Story

  6. 2019-Present:

    • Square Enix Creative Business Units (CBU):
    At the end of 2019 Square Enix went through yet another corporate restructure. While the Business Divisions were meant to simplify things, they ironically managed to only get to complicate things further over time, so in response to that they merged several of their departments into just five sections. Creative Business Unit I: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts, SaGa, certain remasters. Creative Business Unit II: Dragon Quest, Nier, Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler, Live A Live. Creative Business Unit III: Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Quest Builders, Final Fantasy XVI Creative Business Unit IV: Mana, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, Sengoku IXA Creative Business Unit V: Million Arthur, Grimms Notes, Schoolgirl Strikers, Chaos Rings, SinoAlice

  7. Others:

    • Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.: The holdings company created for specifically administrative purposes as the corporation grew to manage entertainment ventures beyond just video games, separating general corporate work from Square Enix Co., Ltd.
    • Square Enix Ltd.: The London-based European division would distribute games through the region.
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