Square

Japan · Founded 1983 · Developer / Publisher

Square created the Final Fantasy series as a last-resort gamble before bankruptcy, then built it into the defining JRPG franchise, also producing Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Square Co., Ltd. was founded in Tokyo in September 1983 as a software subsidiary of Den-Yu-Sha, an electrical engineering firm. After modest success with early PC titles, the company staked its survival on Final Fantasy (1987) for the Famicom — a game named, according to legend, because it would be Hironobu Sakaguchi's final attempt before leaving the industry. Final Fantasy sold 400,000 copies in Japan, saving the company. The series grew into the most commercially successful JRPG franchise, with each numbered entry advancing the production values and narrative ambition of its predecessors. Final Fantasy IV (1991) introduced active-time battle and cinematic storytelling; Final Fantasy VI (1994) featured the most complex cast of characters in the genre; Final Fantasy VII (1997) on PlayStation demonstrated that RPGs could reach mass Western audiences. Square's artistic peak may have been 1994-1995: Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger (the "Dream Team" collaboration with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii and Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama) both released within a year. Square merged with Enix in April 2003 to form Square Enix.