CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development studio mostly known for its work on the .hack series, along with a series of fighting games based on the Naruto franchise. They are also known for creating the Little Tail Bronx series. In 2016, they expanded their workforce into the international market by opening a studio in Montreal, Canada; however, the studio ceased operations in July 2023 after seven years of service.
Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online, also known as Dragon Quest X Online, is a 2012 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by Square Enix. It is the tenth mainline entry in the Dragon Quest series. It was originally released for the Wii and was later ported to the Wii U, Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, and Nintendo 3DS. Other than a discontinued Windows version in China, the game was not released outside of Japan. A single-player remake, Dragon Quest X Offline, was released in Japan in 2022 and later throughout Asia.
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below is a hack and slash game developed by Omega Force and published by Square Enix. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan in February 2015, and in North America, Australia and Europe only for PlayStation 4 in October 2015. It was later released for Microsoft Windows in December 2015. The game received generally positive reviews, with a sequel Dragon Quest Heroes II being released in Japan during May 2016. Dragon Quest Heroes would later be released with the sequel in a compilation for Nintendo Switch in Japan.
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and HexaDrive, and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and later for Windows via Steam. It was released worldwide in March 2015, while the Steam port was released in August. Type-0 HD is a high-definition remaster of the Japan-exclusive PlayStation Portable game Final Fantasy Type-0, a spin-off from the main Final Fantasy series and part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries, a set of games sharing a common mythos. The story focuses on Class Zero, a group of fourteen students from the Dominion of Rubrum who must fight the neighboring Militesi Empire when they launch an assault on the other Crystal States of Orience. In doing so, the group become entangled in both the efforts to push back and defeat the forces of Militesi, and the secret behind the war and the existence of the crystals.
The Japanese video game magazine Famitsu reviews video games by having four critics each assign the game a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The scores of are then added together for a maximum possible score of 40. As of 2024, thirty games have received perfect scores from Famitsu.
World of Final Fantasy is a role-playing video game developed by Tose and published by Square Enix. It is a spin-off of the Final Fantasy franchise, featuring characters from across its mainline and supplementary entries. Initially released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2016, it was later ported to Windows in 2017. An updated version, World of Final Fantasy Maxima, was released as a port for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2018, with the PS4 and Windows versions receiving the Maxima update as downloadable content.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a role-playing video game by Square Enix. The eleventh entry in the long-running Dragon Quest video game series, it was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 4 in July 2017 and worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in September 2018. An enhanced version, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition, was released for the Nintendo Switch in September 2019; for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in December 2020; and for Stadia in March 2021. Taking place in a world called Erdrea, the game follows the hero's quest to save the world from an impending darkness. Throughout the game, he explores challenges related to his prophesied Luminary identity as he endures persecution from those who demonize him.
Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development and localization company specializing in role-playing video games, visual novels and adventure games. The company was founded in 1984 as Chunsoft Co., Ltd. and merged with Spike in 2012. It is owned by Dwango.
The development of Final Fantasy XV, a Japanese action role-playing video game, began in 2006 shortly before its announcement at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Square Enix handled primary development on XV, and the game was released worldwide in November 2016; the total development time covered approximately ten years. The game was originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a PlayStation 3-exclusive spin-off title. It was part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, a subseries of games linked by a common mythos: while retaining thematic links, specific references were removed to aid with marketing. Additional media was created to portray the world of XV without using sequels; dubbed the "Final Fantasy XV Universe", it included a feature film, an original net animation, a virtual reality simulation game, multiple mobile projects including an abridged version of the game, ports to Windows and Stadia, and a novel The Dawn of the Future depicting an alternate finale.
In the video game industry during 2019, both Sony and Microsoft announced their intent to reveal their next-generation consoles in 2020, while Nintendo introduced a smaller Nintendo Switch Lite, and Google announced its streaming game platform Stadia. The controversy over loot boxes as a potential gambling route continued into 2019, with some governments like Belgium and the Netherlands banning games with them under their gambling laws, while the United Kingdom acknowledging their current laws prevent enforcing these as if they were games of chance. The first video cards to support real-time ray tracing were put onto the consumer market, including the first set of games that would take advantage of the new technology. The Epic Games Store continued its growth in challenging the largest digital PC game distribution service Steam, leading to concern and debate about Epic Games' methods to seek games for its service. Dota Auto Chess, a community-created mod for Dota 2, introduced a new subgenre of strategy games called auto battlers, which saw several games in the genre released throughout the year. Blizzard Entertainment faced criticism due to their involvement in the Blitzchung controversy, which began after they had banned a Hearthstone player for making comments during a tournament regarding the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is an action role-playing sandbox game developed by Square Enix and Omega Force, with Square Enix publishing it. It is the sequel to Dragon Quest Builders, and was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan in December 2018 and worldwide in July 2019, for Windows in December 2019, and for the Xbox One in May 2021. The game shipped over a million copies by August 2019 and received generally favorable reviews from critics.
In the video game industry, 2021 saw the release of many new titles. The numerous delays in software and hardware releases due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted development schedules, leading to several games being delayed into 2022 or even postponed indefinitely. Additionally, computer and console hardware were impacted by the combined effects of a semiconductor shortage and a rising growth of bitcoin mining that strained the supply of critical components.
In the video game industry, 2022 saw the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry, slowing hardware sales for most of the year as well as development delays for major titles. The industry continued its trend of acquisitions and mergers, highlighted by Microsoft announcing its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. The industry as a whole continued to deal with issues such as workplace harassment and discrimination, alongside crunch periods, leading to at least the quality assurance staff at three separate studios to vote to unionize.
In the video game industry, 2023 saw significant changes within larger publishers and developers. Microsoft, after having satisfied worldwide regulatory bodies, completed its US$69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, making them the third largest game publisher in the world. Embracer Group, which had been in an acquisition spree over the previous few years, had an estimated $2 billion deal fall through, causing many of the studios under Embracer to either lay off staff or close entirely. Similar layoffs were seen at Unity, Amazon, ByteDance, Epic Games, Bungie, and Ubisoft, leading to over 9,000 jobs lost in the industry in 2023 and part of a larger trend of layoffs at technology companies in 2023.
Downloadable content for Final Fantasy XV, an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix, was revealed prior to the game's release for the eighth generation of video game consoles in November 2016. It was mostly developed by a smaller team from the core Final Fantasy XV staff, supervised by director Hajime Tabata and headed by producer Haruyoshi Sawatari. Both free and paid downloadable content (DLC) were announced: among the DLC released were various promotional content utilised as tie-ins to the base game, such as A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV as well as additional story elements intended to address player criticisms of the game's narrative structure and missing details.
