"LOS ANGELES, Calif., (Feb. 18, 2003) – Square Co., Ltd. (Square) and the exclusive publisher of all Squaresoft products in North America, Square Electronic Arts L.L.C. (Square EA), announced today changes in its North American operations.

Square will merge with Tokyo-based video game publisher Enix Corporation (Enix) on April 1, 2003. The new company, headquartered in Tokyo, will be named Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix) and led by Yoichi Wada as president (current Square president). With this, Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. (Square Enix U.S.A.) will be established to handle North American operations. Located in Los Angeles, Calif., Square Enix U.S.A. will localize, market and publish Square Enix products under the leadership of Jun Iwasaki, the newly named president and CEO, Square Enix U.S.A., Inc.

Also, the joint venture between Square and Electronic Arts (EA), the world’s leading publisher and developer of interactive entertainment will come to an end as scheduled March 31, 2003. EA distribution of Square products in North America will end this summer. The exclusive partnership that focused on sales and distribution began in May 1998 in North America and Japan. Financial details of the joint venture were not disclosed.

'As Square and Enix begin the worldwide implementation of the merger, our goals for the North American market will shift to include not only increasing our market share for our franchises, but also expanding the role-playing game market in North America,' said Wada 'We are currently evaluating the best strategy to accomplish these goals and look forward to growing our business as a new company. We have enjoyed a very successful partnership with Electronic Arts over the past five years and we are currently exploring opportunities for a new relationship.'

'We are looking forward to this new structure in North America,' said current Enix president, Keiji Honda. 'Together, Square and Enix will deliver a gaming experience that everyone will enjoy. We are committed to developing and marketing innovative, creative and original titles. We hope to accomplish our goals by providing quality role-playing games to gamers in North America.'

Square has established itself as one of the world’s premier video game developers and publishers and is best known for the world-renowned Final Fantasy series, which has sold over 42 million units worldwide. The latest installment in North America, Final Fantasy X for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, has sold over 1.5 million units to date. Enix, most famous for its Dragon Quest role-playing series, has shipped over 30 million units of the series worldwide."