enix

Enix, commonly known as Enix Co., Ltd. in Japanese markets, was a Japanese video game publisher and developer based in Osaka. Founded in 1975, it published a wide range of games for home consoles and personal computers, becoming a major player in the Japanese game industry during the 1980s and 1990s.

The company’s flagship franchise was Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior in North America), a fantasy role-playing game designed by Yuji Horii with character art by Akira Toriyama and music by Koichi Sugiyama. Since its first release in 1986, Dragon Quest became one of the most influential JRPG series and helped establish Enix as a leading publisher in Japan. The success of Dragon Quest also contributed to a broader wave of JRPG development across the console market.

Beyond Dragon Quest, Enix published a variety of titles across genres and platforms, contributing to the growth of early console-era publishing in Japan. Throughout its history, it collaborated with notable designers and developers and helped foster a distinctive JRPG ecosystem.

In 2003, Enix merged with Squaresoft to form Square Enix Holdings. The merger, completed on April 1, 2003, created one of the world’s largest video game publishers and developers. After the merger, the Enix brand was absorbed into Square Enix and gradually discontinued as a separate publishing label, though Dragon Quest and other IPs continued under the Square Enix umbrella.

Enix’s legacy lies in its role as a founder of the JRPG genre and its contribution to Japan’s console-game publishing landscape, a legacy carried forward by Square Enix in the global market.