Square Enix Business Divisions (established in Dec 2013)

[Sora96 17,256]

Many people don't know this, but Square Enix actually restructured their internal development teams into a new Business Division structure. It was first mentioned by Yoshinori Kitase in a LR FFXIII interview by Famitsu in December 2013. Kitase said this new structure came into power in December 2013. I've spent the past 10 months researching this and have finally compiled my findings. There are 12 Business Divisions in total, but only the first 6 are worthy of mentioning, as they're the ones that mainly develop for consoles and handhelds. The other 6 are mainly dedicated to smartphones and browser games. Business Division 7 was behind Drakengard 3, though.

 

Also, it's important to note that the staff in each division are not permanently fixed; some staff work with other divisions on various games. For example, Tetsuya Nomura belongs in Business Division 3, but he still works on games developed by many of the other divisions.

 

Anyway, below is the list of my findings.

 

Oh, and before somebody asks, I have no idea what division Hiroyuki Ito and the FFXVI team belong in. However, I think they're in Business Division 8, as there's no real info about that division. The inner workings of it and any games they're currently working on have mostly been kept secret from the public.

 

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Business Division 1 (1st Production Department No.1)

 

Corporate Executive

Yoshinori Kitase (Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Motomu Toriyama (Director)

> Yuji Abe (Game Design Director)

> Nobuyuki Matsuoka (Battle System Director)

> Isamu Kamikokuryo (Art Director)

> Daisuke Watanabe (Scenario Writer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Final Fantasy XIII (2009)

> Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011)

> Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (2013)

> Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster (2013)

 

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Business Division 2 (1st Production Department No.2)

 

Corporate Executive

Hajime Tabata (Director)

 

Notable Staff

> Takatsugu Nakazawa (Game Design Director)

> Kenichiro Yuji (Battle System Director)

> Yusuke Naora (Art Director)

> Hiroki Chiba (Scenario Writer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> The 3rd Birthday (2010)

> Final Fantasy Type-0 (2011)

> Final Fantasy Agito (2014)

> Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (2015)

> Final Fantasy XV (TBA)

 

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Business Division 3 (1st Production Department No.3)

 

Corporate Executive

Shinji Hashimoto (Executive Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Tetsuya Nomura (Director)

> Tai Yasue (Co-Director)

> Gen Kobayashi (Art Director)

> Masaru Oka (Scenario Writer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (2009)

> Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2010)

> Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (2010)

> Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012)

> The World Ends With You -Solo Remix- (2012)

> Kingdom Hearts I.5 HD ReMIX (2013)

> Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD ReMIX (2014)

> Kingdom Hearts III (TBA)

 

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Business Division 4 (1st Production Department No.4)

 

Corporate Executive

Ichiro Hazama (Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Mitsunori Takahashi (Director)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning (2009)

> Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy (2011)

> Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (2012)

> Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (2014)

> Final Fantasy VII G-Bike (2014)

 

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Business Division 5 (Online Department)

 

Corporate Executive

Naoki Yoshida (Producer/Director)

 

Notable Staff

> Hiroshi Takai (Assistant Director)

> Nobuaki Komoto (Game Design Director)

> Akihiko Matsui (Battle System Director)

> Kazuya Takahashi (Art Director)

> Kazutoyo Maehiro (Scenario Writer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 (2010)

> Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin (2013)

> Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013)

> Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (2015)

 

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Business Division 6 (Producer Department No.1)

 

Corporate Executive

> Yu Miyake (Executive Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Yosuke Saito (Producer)

> Ryutaro Ichimura (Producer)

> Tomoya Asano (Producer)

> Jin Fujisawa (Producer/Director)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Dragon Quest IX (2009)

> Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (2009)

> Dragon Quest X: Online (2012)

> Bravely Default (2012)

> Bravely Second (2015)

> Dragon Quest Heroes (2015)

> Dragon Quest XI (TBA)

 

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Business Division 7 (Producer Department No.2)

 

Corporate Executive

> Takamasa Shiba (Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Nobuki Kadoi (Producer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Lord of Vermilion (2008)

> Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope (2009)

> Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (2009)

> Lord of Vermilion II (2009)

> Lord of Arcana (2010)

> Lord of Apocalypse (2011)

> Lord of Vermilion III (2013)

> Drakengard 3 (2013)

 

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Business Division 8 (Cloud Gaming Department)

 

Corporate Executive

> ???

 

Notable Staff

> ???

 

Notable Recent Works

> ???

 

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Business Division 9 (Mobile Department No.1)

 

Corporate Executive

> Takashi Tokita (Executive Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Shinichi Tatsuke (Producer)

> Kazuko Shibuya (Art Director)

> Akira Oguro (Character Designer)

> Yuri Tsuchiya (Scenario Writer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Final Fantasy Dimensions (2010)

> Final Fantasy III for Smartphones (2011)

> Guardian Cross (2012)

> Demons' Score (2012)

> Final Fantasy IV for Smartphones (2012)

> Final Fantasy V for Smartphones (2013)

> Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - 3D Remake (2013)

> Deadman's Cross (2014)

> Final Fantasy VI for Smartphones (2014)

 

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Business Division 10 (Mobile Department No.2)

 

Corporate Executive

> Takehiro Ando (Executive Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Hiroaki Iwano (Producer)

> Masaru Oyamada (Producer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Chaos Rings (2010)

> Chaos Rings Omega (2011)

> Chaos Rings II (2012)

> Million Arthur (2012)

> Rise of Mana (2014)

> Chaos Rings III: Prequel Trilogy (2014)

 

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Business Division 11 (Browser Department No.1)

 

Corporate Executive

> Yuki Yokoyama (Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Ryoma Ito (Character Designer)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Monster X Dragon (2011)

> Crystal Conquest (2012)

> Bravely Default: Praying Brage (2013)

> Square Enix: Legend World (2013)

> Star Galaxy (2013)

> Sennenyusya (2013)

> Kingdom Hearts X [chi] (2013)

> Dragon Quest: Monster Parade (2013)

 

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Business Division 12 (Browser Department No.2)

 

Corporate Executive

> Tomohiro Hasegawa (Producer)

 

Notable Staff

> Mizumachi Tadashi (Producer)

> Takaya Ishiyama (Director)

 

Notable Recent Works

> Sengokuixa (2010)

> Sangokushi Rumble (2013)

> Amatus (2014)

Source

[Sora96 17,256]

Updated with all 12 divisions.