Square Enix is Japanese entertainment conglomerate and video game company which was founded in 2003, as a result of a merger between Squaresoft and Enix. The company has been notably known for their roleplaying game franchises, such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts. They have been involved in publishing of many other series and acquiring other videogame developers. This included their acquistion of former British videogame publisher, Eidos Interactive who owned Crystal Dynamics and Ion Storm in 2009. Thus, becoming an western division of the company known as Square Enix Europe.
They are currently responisible for the publishing of the Gex series on the Playstation Network. As well as the port of the PC version of the first Gex game on digital storefront, Good Old Games (GOG). As of currently, they are owners of the Gex series and other Eidos Interactive properities. Despite, the Gex series being semi-dormant under this publisher, there has been attempts to revive the game series under this publisher under thier Square Enix Collective program.
However, as of May 2nd, 2022, they are already in agreement of selling their western division of company, including Eidos and Crystal Dynamics IPs to holdings company, Embracer Group for $300 million. In order, to invest in blockchain business ventures.[1][2]
After months of negotiations, publisher sold the aforementioned companies to the Embracer Group on 26th August 2022.[3]
Square Enix Collective[]
On February 17th, 2015, Square Enix Collective announced via a blog post on their website that they would allow independent developers to work on a selection of their Eidos IPs. The first three IPs up for grabs were Gex, Fear Effect, and Anachronox. Pitch submissions for all three properties were open until May 31st, 2015. Depending on the success and response of this initiative, Collective would open up more Eidos IPs to independent developers in the future. Of the three, Fear Effect would receive a new game by Sushee in the form of Fear Effect: Sedna. The game released on March 6th, 2018 and received mixed critical reception. Due to the lackluster success of Fear Effect: Sedna and failure to find developers to revitalize their other Eidos properties, Square Enix Collective would not release anymore Eidos IPs for independent pitches.
However, this doesn't mean all hope is lost for Gex. On September 28th, 2016 via a reply tweet, Phil Elliott, Director of Indie Publishing at Square Enix Collective, stated that developers with pitches for a new Gex game were free to submit them via a direct message on his Twitter. However, in the years since this tweet, it does not appear that any developer has come forward with a pitch for a new Gex game, and it is uncertain if the IP is still open to pitch submissions or if it has since been closed off from independent developers.
Games Published[]
- Kingdom Hearts series
- Final Fantasy series
- Tomb Raider series
- Gex series
- Dragon Quest series
- Life is Strange series
- Marvel Avengers
- Deus Ex series
- Fear Effect series
- Arachanox
References[]
External Links[]
| Gex series | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Console Games | Gex (1995) | Gex: Enter The Gecko (1998) | Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (1999) | Gex Trilogy (TBC) | ||
| Handheld Games | Gex: Enter the Gecko (1998) | Gex 3: Deep Pocket Gecko (1999) | ||
| Unreleased Games | Gex 4 | Gex Jr. | ||
| Miscellaneous | Hot Shots Golf 2 | ||
| Companies | Crystal Dynamics | Gratuitous Games | Realtime Associates | David A. Palmer Productions | LTI Gray Matter | Kinesoft | Beam Software Pty | Windlight Studios | Keyframe Digital Productions | Mondo Media | Webtone Productions | ImageBuilder Software | Eidos Interactive | Square Enix | Limited Run Games | ||