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Raymond Lozano
CST 300 Writing Lab
22 January 2022
Software Engineering – Game Development

Video games have been around for a long time. Dating all the way back to October 1958,

the first video game to be created was a basic tennis game much like Pong. It was created by the

Physicist William Higinbotham, who at the time was part of Brookhaven National Laboratory

Instrumentation Division. Higinbotham noticed that the exhibits for his lab’s annual visitors’ day

were boring. His idea was to create an interactive exhibit for people to play with, which caused

him to create Tennis for Two. It was a game with a cathode ray tube display that “simply

showed a side view of a tennis court represented by just two lines, one representing the ground

and one representing the net” (Tretkoff, 2008).

Comparing video games today to games fifty years ago, it shows how much more

complex todays’ games have become. The larger and more complex a game is, the more demand

there is for people of various skills in the industry. When looking at the programming side of the

industry you have interface programmers, game engine programmers, artificial intelligence,

physics programmers, and network programmers to name a few jobs. Within this field many job

opportunities in this industry whether it be from big budget studios like Nintendo, Epic, or

Ubisoft; small independent studios such as SuperGiant Games, or even mobile game

development being between Android and Apple. These two types of studios have a focus on

video game releases on the platforms Nintendo, Sony (PlayStation), Microsoft (Xbox), and

Microsoft (Personal Computer or PC).

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When looking at video games in the entertainment market in the year 2019, the industry

has become one of the largest in the entertainment industry. The video game industry during

2019 has made about $145.7 billion. That industry surpasses the movie industry’s $42.5 billion

by over $100 billion. It is understandable that this is not the greatest metric since 2019 was the

year that caused a lot of businesses and change operations due to Covid-19. Video games during

that year may have received a boon in sales due to people quarantining when sick or working

from home. But as these numbers still do show that the video game industry has a substantial

influence on the entertainment industry. People not being able to go out due to lockdowns would

cause them to find other means to relieve their boredom while staying at home, which would be

either television or video games.

When looking at the revenue of the games market in 2021, it shows that there was an

estimated $180.3 billion generated, which is an increase of 1.4% from 2020 (Wijman, 2021).

When breaking down the sales based on platforms, we have: Mobile at the top with a revenue of

$93.2 billion, Personal Computer (PC) at $36.7 billion, and Consoles (Nintendo, PlayStation, and

Xbox) at $50.4 billion. This revenue also breaks down even further to individual video game

companies and corporations, such as Square Enix.

Square Enix, a company that currently has 5,550 employees, is a company with a long

history. The company was originally two companies, Square and Enix. Enix, originally named

Eidansya-Bosyu Service Center Corporation was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima.

Eidansya-Bosyu Service originally started as a tabloid company for real estate. The company

later name changed to Enix in 1982 and started to focus on video games. Fukushima did not

know computers, so he decided to outsource the work while publishing under the name of Enix.

He would often hold programming competitions to find out who to hire for his projects. When
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looking at Enix as a video game company, one video game that they brought into the world that

is known today is the Dragon Quest series. Dragon Quest, released in 1986, is a role-playing

game (RPG) set inside of a fantasy world. With one playable character, they are set as the hero

to save the world from evil. The game plays with turn-based combat where the player will take a

turn and then the enemies will take theirs battling each other until one side has completely run

out of hit-points. Enix’s “Dragon Quest has been a source of inspiration for many video-game

fanchises, namely Pokemon, Mother, and Final Fantasy” (Shah, 2021, para. 1).

Square was founded later in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto. Miyamoto graduated from

Waseda University, one of Tokyo’s top universities. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES

or Famicom in Japan) had recently released in North America in 1985 with Europe seeing

release in 1986. Square was making video games for Nintendo and for the beginning year and a

half of their contract with them they were not making any revenue facing potential bankruptcy in

1987. Facing bankruptcy Square and a man named Hironobu Sakaguchi decided to create one

final game, which is the world-famous game known as Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy is a role-

playing game (RPG) which has the player control up to four characters who then have their own

set of skills to aid them in combat based on what the type of class the player chose for each

character. There would be two types of class categories being martial (Fighter, Black Belt, and

Thief) or magic (White Mage, Black Mage, and Red Mage). A combination of four of these

classes would then go on a epic quest that the creators have predetermined for the player to

experience. The player would then set off going through the story, killing monsters and bad guys

for experience to further enhance their characters and make them strong, then finally having

enough strength to beat the final boss and finish the story.
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It was this game, Final Fantasy, itself that managed to pull Square out of the jaws of

bankruptcy and make them a known entity in the video game industry. This game sold 520,000

units in Japan and 700,000 in North America. “It is depicted as legendarily popularizing and

legitimizing the RPG (role-playing game) genre and set a precedent for the Final Fantasy series

that we all know and love” (Fan, 2020, para. 13). Square managed to create this game through

influences such as Dragon Quest, which was a game created by their rival company Enix and

was in the similar genre of games as Final Fantasy. Being their final game Square made sure to

treat is as such hence the name Final Fantasy. They made sure to hire top talent such as Nobuo

Uematsu, who is a well-known composer in Japan at the time, and Yoshitaka Amano who was an

artist. Uematsu handled the music for Final Fantasy, and Amano helped with the art. Together

they played a major role in this game’s creation and future. Today Final Fantasy is one of

Square Enix’s main intellectual properties. At the time of writing this, there have been 15 games

released as part of what is considered the main series, and numerous spin-offs, prequels, and

sequels. All games which are well known in the world today that tend to do well as it is a part of

Square Enix’s corporate philosophy:

To spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences.

This philosophy represents our company’s mission and the beliefs for which we stand.

Each of our customers has his or her own definition of happiness. Square Enix provides

high-quality content, services, and products to help those customers create their own

wonderful, unforgettable experiences, thereby allowing them to discover a happiness all

their own (Square Enix, 2008, para. 1).

This is the philosophy is part of what Square Enix is today in terms of quality of their product,

and is what allows them to release fun entertainment to its audience.

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In this merger Enix was the company that remained, where stocks from Square were

exchanged for Enix stocks at a rate of 0.85 each. Yoichi Wada, who was the president of Square,

became the president of Square Enix at the time, and the president of Enix, Kenji Honda, became

the Vice President. Over the last decade or so Square Enix has also expanded its company.

Early 2005 they establish Square Enix (China). Then later that year, they acquire Taito

Corporation in as a consolidated subsidiary, with it become an owned subsidiary 2006.

Continuing that year, Square Enix opens a branch in Los Angeles, California as its North

America branch, this continues throughout the decade to Canada and Europe. Eventually, in

2012, Square Enix moves its headquarters from Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, to Shinjuku,

Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. It was only about a year later where Square Enix’s Yosuke Matsuda

became the new and current president of the company.

When it comes to Yosuke Matsuda, he has shown up recently in news due to his stance

on non-fungible tokens, or NFT for short. What NFTs are, simply put, “unique digital tokens

that – through a series of computer transactions – give someone ownership of a piece of art, like

a video, song, or image” (Korn, 2021, para. 2). The problem that people are currently seeing with

NFT’s is the carbon footprint that they leave behind. There is an amount of energy that is used

and how much carbon emission it produces. They are similar to crypto currencies such as

Bitcoin which already generates tons of carbon dioxide every year. Matsuda has stated in his

New Year’s Letter from the President that he will be looking into NFTs and potentially handing

them to players through their own games.

Looking at a company like Square Enix who has a long history of making games that

people know and love it can be understandable to want to get into the game development career

path. I am not entirely sure on whether I want to pursue this path or not, because I do know that
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there are some issues when it comes to the game development industry. People within the

industry are subject to mental health, either from things like job instability or longevity. A lot of

times companies get bought out by bigger companies. For example, at the time of writing this

paper Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard for about $70 billion. Buy outs can cause shifts

within the corporations and cause people to lose their jobs which can put financial burdens on

them. The video game industry also deals with stuff like job stress, crunch time (which is a point

where developers work long hours during the days/weeks leading up to the release of a game),

lack of diversity, sexism, and even mental health issues.

Looking at a more recent example at the time, Blizzard has become a known entity of

dealing with huge sexual harassment problems. It has gotten to the point where the state of

California’s Department of Fair Employment is suing Activision Blizzard. In State of the

Industry 2019: Mental Health in the Gaming Industry by Take this, they state in the executive

summary: “only 19% of respondents from a survey of game developers identified as female in

the United States” (Crevoshay et al., 2021, p. 4). Lack of female diversity tends to lead to more

of a “frat boy” culture within these industries.

Even after stating these issues, if I do decide to make a career out of there are a few steps

that I can take to have a better chance of getting into the industry. The first and most obvious

step would be to finish my bachelor’s degree for Computer Science, as well as taking any

relevant courses that pertain to video game programming. Having a degree in the proper field

will help immensely when finding a job. Another very important thing to learn is to understand

the proper programming language. The industry standard currently is C++, having good

knowledge and foundation of the language is required in order to work in the video game

industry as a developer. Communication skills are also a big proponent when working in the
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video game industry, or software engineering industry in general. These jobs are performed as a

team, especially when video game developers need to collaborate with different departments as

video games are more than just lines of code. They have the graphics that give the visual look

and style of the game. If they are multiplayer or online there will be the networking portion of

the game.

The last and probably most important step that is needed in order to help get a job as a

game programmer would be to create a portfolio. Portfolios are huge in any industry that relies

on the use of any programming language, it is not just limited to the video game industry. Most

students will not have a job before graduation that involved programming so they will have to

make their own with their own projects. For the video game industry, it is as simple (or not so

simple) as creating a video game or just a small portion of a video game. Portfolios are a way

for potential employers to gauge how knowledgeable one is when it comes to the programming

language and development of said program/software.

Would this be the correct career path? It may or may not be. Even if it is not, seeking a

career as a software developer is a valid path that can lead to an eventual career change into the

video game industry. Video games are fun and enjoyable for all people, whether it is through

consoles like PlayStation or even just mobile games that people play on their smartphones.
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References

Associated Press. (2022, January 18). Microsoft Buys Game Maker Activision Blizzard for
About $70B. https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2022-01-18/microsoft-buys-
activision-blizzard-for-68-7-billion

Crevoshay, E., Hays, S., Kowert, R., Boccamazzo, R. Dunlap, K. (2021, February 23). State of
the Industry 2019: Mental Health in the Game Industry. https://www.takethis.org/expert-
content/state-of-the-industry-2019-mental-health-in-the-game-industry/

Fan, R. (2020, July 2). Final Fantasy Was the Viral Game That Saved Square. Better Marketing.
https://bettermarketing.pub/final-fantasy-was-the-viral-game-that-saved-square-
c4b27ffd5dfb

Indeed. (2021, September 16). How to Become a Game Developer. Indeed.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-become-a-game-
developer

Korn, B. (2021, December 3). What’s the Environmental Impact of NFTs? We Found Out.
Brightly. https://brightly.eco/environmental-impact-nfts/

Shah, T. (2021, May 26). A Brief History of Dragon Quest. TechRaptor.

https://techraptor.net/gaming/features/history-dragon-quest

Square Enix. (2021, January 1). A New Year’s Letter from the President. Square Enix.
https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/2022/html/a_new_years_letter_from_the_presi
dent_2.html

Square Enix. (n.d.). Board of Directors. Square Enix.

https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/company/officer.html

Square Enix. (2008, January 25). Corporate Philosophy. Square Enix. https://www.hd.square-
enix.com/eng/company/philosophy.html

Square Enix. (2021, March 31). Corporate Profile. Square Enix. https://www.hd.square-
enix.com/eng/company/outline.html

Square Enix. (2020, March). History. Square Enix.

https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/company/history.html

Tretkoff, E. (2008, October). October 1958: Physicist Invests First Video Game. APS Physics.
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200810/physicshistory.cfm
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Wijman, T. (2021, December 22). The Games Market and Beyond in 2021: The Year in
Numbers. Newzoo. https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/the-games-market-in-2021-the-
year-in-numbers-esports-cloud-gaming/