Enix Corporation was a Japanese company that managed video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was started in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center. At first, the company published newspapers, but later it tried to work in real estate management.
In 1982, a company called Enix, which was part of Eidansha Boshu, began making video games for home computers. Early workers included game designers Yuji Horii and Koichi Nakamura, and composer Koichi Sugiyama. These three people helped create the 1986 role-playing video game Dragon Quest for the Family Computer. Dragon Quest was one of the first successful role-playing games for consoles. It started a series of games with the same name, which became Enix's most well-known product. In 1989, the parent company changed its name to Enix and took over the subsidiary.
Enix became famous for publishing games made by several studios, including tri-Ace, Tose, Chunsoft, and Quintet. It also started the Gangan Comics imprint and created international partnerships for technology, publishing, and education.
In the early 2000s, Enix talked about joining forces with Square, a company known for the Final Fantasy series. The two companies merged in 2003 to form Square Enix, with Enix being the main company in the new partnership.
History
Enix was founded on September 22, 1975, under the name Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Yasuhiro Fukushima. Fukushima was an architect who later became a business owner. He started Eidansha as a publishing company that made advertising magazines for real estate.
On February 5, 1980, Eidansha Boshu created a company called Eidansya Fudousan to focus on real estate trading and brokerage. In 1981, this company was renamed Eidansha Systems. After an unsuccessful attempt to expand nationwide, Fukushima decided to invest in the growing video game market. In 1982, Eidansha Systems was renamed Enix Corporation. The name "Enix" was inspired by the mythological bird called the Phoenix and the early computer ENIAC.
To find new games, Fukushima held a competition called the "Enix Game Hobby Program Contest" in magazines. The prize was ¥1 million (about $10,000) for a game prototype. Winners included Yuji Horii, who created the sports game Love Match Tennis; Koichi Nakamura, who designed the puzzle game Door Door; and Kazuro Morita, who made the simulation game Morita's Battlefield. Enix published games for personal computers and early Japanese consoles. Morita used his earnings to start a company called Random House, which made games like the Morita's Shogi series. Nakamura’s company, Chunsoft, and Horii worked together to create The Portopia Serial Murder Case, an adventure game. Later, they decided to make a role-playing game (RPG) for the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System).
The RPG, Dragon Quest, began in 1985. Horii and Nakamura were the designers, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music, and Akira Toriyama, the artist of Dragon Ball, designed the characters. Though sales were slow at first, Dragon Quest became a big success, selling over one million copies in Japan. It started a franchise that became Enix’s most profitable property. Horii, Sugiyama, and Toriyama continued working on the series. Chunsoft made the next five Dragon Quest games. Enix also published other PC games to stay financially stable. In 1988, the company began selling Dragon Quest-themed merchandise like statues and toys.
In 1983, Enix co-founded Konishiroku Enix with Konishiroku Photo Company. Enix later bought all of Konishiroku Enix’s shares in 1989. In 1988, Enix created another company, Enix Products, to sell books and merchandise. In 1989, Enix, Konishiroku Enix, and Enix Products were merged into Eidansha Boshu, which was renamed Enix Corporation.
In 1990, Enix published ActRaiser, the first third-party game for the Super Famicom. The game was made by Quintet, a company with former Nihon Falcom staff. Enix published all of Quintet’s Super Famicom games in Japan. Between 1988 and 1991, Enix decided to expand its business beyond video games by publishing books. This led to the creation of the Gangan Comics imprint, starting with Monthly Shonen Gangan in March 1991. Other manga imprints like Monthly G-Fantasy and Monthly Shonen Gag-OU followed. Enix also sold merchandise based on other popular series, like Mario and Pokémon. In 1991, Enix registered with the Japan Securities Dealers Association to sell company shares to the public.
After Dragon Quest V (1992), Chunsoft left the main series to make its own games. It continued working on Dragon Quest spin-offs like the Mystery Dungeon series. The next two games were made by Heartbeat, a company formed by former Chunsoft employees. Heartbeat handled the main series until 2002. From 1994, Enix published Itadaki Street, a game series by Yuji Horii. It also published games by Tamtam and made the Dragon Quest Monsters series with Tose.
Enix first tried to publish Tales of Phantasia but failed. The game was later published by Namco in 1995. Enix later published Star Ocean (1996), made by former Tales of Phantasia staff who formed tri-Ace. Enix and tri-Ace made three more Star Ocean games and Valkyrie Profile, an RPG inspired by Norse mythology. Enix also helped publish Riven (1998) and Tomb Raider III (1999). In 1996, Enix moved its offices from Shinjuku to Shibuya. Unlike other companies, Enix supported both the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. It later announced plans to develop games for the GameCube. In 1999, Enix was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In the early 2000s, Enix’s manga publishing faced problems. Some editors were unhappy with Enix’s focus on Dragon Quest and shōnen (young male) stories. Editor Yoshihiro Hosaka and others started a new company, Mag Garden, which competed with Enix. This caused many creators to leave Enix and legal disputes over copyright. In 2003, Enix agreed to invest in Mag Garden to resolve the issues. The popularity of Fullmetal Alchemist helped improve Enix’s manga division. However, Enix also faced financial losses due to delays in Dragon Quest VII (2000) and Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (2001). Notable games from the 2000s included Grandia on PlayStation 2, Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion by Puraguru, and Drakengard by Cavia.
In 2001, Enix considered merging with Square or Namco because of rising game development costs. Talks with Square began but were paused when Square had financial trouble after the failure of *Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Company structure and affiliates
During reports about the merger with Square, Takashi Oya of Deutsche Securities said Enix outsourced game development and had few employees working directly for the company, unlike Square, which focused on creating games internally. At the time of the merger, Enix had two development teams: one responsible for the Dragon Quest series, led by Yuu Miyake, and another team of producers who oversaw projects. In 1997, staff from Quintet described their company as a "subcontractor" for Enix, meaning they worked on Enix's projects even when Enix did not act as the publisher. Hiroshi Horii created Armor Project as a company to manage Dragon Quest for Enix, comparing the relationship to that between an editor and an artist. Armor Project continued as an associate of Square Enix and grew larger over time.
Enix Webstar Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. was a company formed in 2001 by Enix and Mauritius Webstar Inc. to create online and mobile phone games in China and later in other parts of Asia. This subsidiary continued after the merger with Square but was shut down in 2005 when Square Enix China was established. Digital Entertainment Academy Co., Ltd. was created in 1991 as a partially owned subsidiary. Originally named Toshima Ku Hokkaido University, the school was founded to teach game development skills.
Enix America Corporation was Enix's first U.S. localization subsidiary, based in Redmond, Washington. It was created after Nintendo of America released Dragon Warrior in 1989 and officially started operations in 1990. The company closed in November 1995 because Enix decided to stop releasing games in North America due to low sales. One game published by Enix America Corporation, King Arthur & the Knights of Justice, was Enix's only exclusive game for North America. Enix America, Inc., Enix's last U.S. localization subsidiary, was formed in 1999 and based in Seattle, Washington. Paul Handelman, who previously worked at Enix America Corporation, returned to lead Enix America, Inc. as president. This company existed until 2003, when it closed after Enix merged with Square Co., Ltd. Some of Enix's localized games were published by other companies, including Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment; the last was Dragon Warrior Monsters, which was released through a publishing deal with Eidos.
Legacy
The Dragon Quest series became one of the most popular video game series in Japan. It expanded into a larger media franchise and became part of mainstream popular culture there. Many publications have noted that the original game helped shape the video game genre on home consoles, inspiring the creation of other well-known series. Enix's Gangan Comics imprint, which published several successful comic series, was praised by critic Tsuyoshi Ito for helping manga reach a wider group of people by combining the styles of shōnen and shōjo comics. A person named Hosaka also recognized Enix for bringing fantasy themes into the mainstream market and for being among the first publishers to invest in and guide the creation of anime adaptations of their own work.