Masafumi Miyamoto
Encyclopedia
was the founder of Square
in 1983. Initially, he was the president of the company which was a subsidiary of Denyuusha (which was owned by his father). While at the time game development was usually conducted by only one programmer, Miyamoto believed that it would be more efficient to have graphic designers, programmers and professional story writers working together on common projects. His initial staff was composed solely of university students working for him on a part-time basis. Two of his first staff members were Hironobu Sakaguchi
and Hiromichi Tanaka
, both of whom quit university to work at Square full-time after Square's first game The Death Trap
was released.
In 1992, he left the company to pursue other interests, and Tetsuo Mizuno replaced him as president of Square. On departure, he still owned 50% of his company.
During the discussion of the merger of Square and Enix
in 2002, his approval of the merger was essential because of his major stake in Square. When the merger went through, .81 shares of Square resulted in 1 share of Enix.
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
in 1983. Initially, he was the president of the company which was a subsidiary of Denyuusha (which was owned by his father). While at the time game development was usually conducted by only one programmer, Miyamoto believed that it would be more efficient to have graphic designers, programmers and professional story writers working together on common projects. His initial staff was composed solely of university students working for him on a part-time basis. Two of his first staff members were Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
and Hiromichi Tanaka
Hiromichi Tanaka
is a Japanese video game developer, game producer, game director and game designer. He is currently Senior Vice President of Software Development at Square Enix and the head of Square Enix's Product Development Division-3. He is best known as the former lead developer of Final Fantasy XI, Square's...
, both of whom quit university to work at Square full-time after Square's first game The Death Trap
The Death Trap
is a video game developed and published by Square for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, and Fujitsu FM-7 in 1984. The game and its supporting computer platforms were only released in Japan....
was released.
In 1992, he left the company to pursue other interests, and Tetsuo Mizuno replaced him as president of Square. On departure, he still owned 50% of his company.
During the discussion of the merger of Square and Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
in 2002, his approval of the merger was essential because of his major stake in Square. When the merger went through, .81 shares of Square resulted in 1 share of Enix.