The Japanese video game developer and publisher Square Enix (formerly two companies called Square and Enix prior to 2003) has been translating its games for North America since the late 1980s, and the PAL region and Asia since the late 1990s. It has not always released all of its games in all major regions, and continues to selectively release games even today depending on multiple factors such as the viability of platforms or the condition of the game itself. The process of localization has changed during that time from having a one-person team with a short time and tight memory capacities to having a team of translators preparing simultaneous launches in multiple languages.
The companies' first major projects were Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, which each proved successful enough to launch video game franchises. Since then, the majority of the games produced by the companies have been localized for Western audiences, although the process was not given a high priority at Square until the international success of Final Fantasy VII. A dedicated localization department was consequently created at the company's Tokyo headquarters around 1998. Enix remained without a translation department until its merger with Square in 2003. In recent years, the process of localization has undergone changes, mainly due to difficult experiences with various titles. Most major titles are now developed with localization running in parallel to development, with more simultaneous releases and even occasional titles developed in localized form first in order to appeal to the Western market.