Square, the Japanese vidgame publisher behind “Final Fantasy,” has dissolved its 5-year-old joint venture with U.S. publishing giant Electronic Arts as part of Square’s upcoming merger with Enix Corp.
The Square EA joint venture will dissolve March 31, to be replaced by Square Enix U.S.A., though Electronic Arts, the biggest independent U.S. publisher, will continue distributing Square games for a few more months. The Square Enix U.S. subsid will still be headed by Jun Iwasaki and will still be responsible for localizing, marketing and publishing the Japanese company’s products.
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Shift marks the end of one of the biggest trans-Pacific partnerships in entertainment, one that saw giants on both sides of the ocean come together to distribute their products in the other company’s backyard. Under the partnership, a series of “Final Fantasy” vidgames were among the biggest selling titles in the business, helped establish the commercial viability of Sony’s original PlayStation and transformed the role-playing genre with movie-quality cinematic sequences and sensibilities. The “Final Fantasy” series has sold an estimated 42 million units worldwide, with two more titles due this year.
