Taito
| |
| Taito | |
| Type | Subsidiary of Square Enix |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 24, 1953 (Taito Trading Co., Ltd.) 1972 (Taito Corporation) June 22, 1999 (The Game Designers Studio) 2005 (SQEX Corporation) 2006 (Taito Corporation - merger with SQEX) June 1, 2009 (ES1 Corporation) February 1, 2010 (Taito Soft Corporation and Taito Corporation) |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Michael Kogan (Taito) Akitoshi Kawazu (Game Designers Studio) |
| Industry | video games |
| Products | Video games |
| Number of people | 645 |
| Website | http://www.taito.com/ |
Taito Corporation is a subsidiary of Square Enix.
Taito Trading Co., Ltd.
Taito was founded by Michael Kogan on August 24, 1953 as Taito Trading Co., Ltd. (太東貿易株式会社, Taitō Bōeki Kabushiki Gaisha).
Taito Corporation
The company changed its name to Taito Corporation (株式会社タイトー, Kabushiki Gaisha Taitō) in August 1972.
Aquisition by Kyocera
In March 1986, Taito became part of the Kyocera group.
The Game Designers Studio
On June 22, 1999, Square formed The Game Designers Studio, Inc., a shell company that allowed them to get around a deal with Sony that stipulated they would create games exclusively for PlayStation video game consoles.
Square owned 49% of the company and Akitoshi Kawazu, the head of Square's Product Development Division-2, owned 51%.
SQEX Corporation
In 2003, Square and Enix merged to form Square Enix.
In 2005, Square Enix renamed The Game Designers Studio to SQEX Corporation.
Aquisition by Square Enix
On September 22, 2005, Square Enix purchased 97.3% of all stock holdings in Taito when it purchased 247,900 shares for ¥45.16 billion ($409.1 million USD).
In March 2006, Taito was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange when it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix.
Merger with SQEX Corporation
In March 2006, Taito Corporation was merged with SQEX Corporation. The resulting company retained the name Taito Corporation.
ES1 Corporation
On June 1, 2009, Square Enix formed ES1 Corporation, a company that operated arcade facilities.
Taito Soft Corporation and Taito Corporation
On February 1, 2010, in an effort by Square Enix to consolidate its arcade divisions, Taito Corporation was renamed Taito Soft Corporation and ES1 Corporation was renamed Taito Corporation.
Absorption of Taito Soft Corporation into Square Enix
On March 11, 2010, Taito Soft Corporation was absorbed into Square Enix. As a result, Taito Corporation was the only division of Square Enix that retained the Taito name.
