DigiCube
 |
|
| Public (JASDAQ: ) | |
| Industry |
Video games industry Wholesale Publishing |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Founded | February 6, 1996 |
| Defunct | November 26, 2003 |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Owner | Square Enix |
DigiCube Co., Ltd. (株式会社デジキューブ; Kabushiki-gaisha Dejikyūbu) was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of DigiCube was to market and distribute Square products, most notably video games and related merchandise, including toys, books, and music soundtracks. DigiCube served as a wholesaler to distributors, and was noteworthy for pioneering the sale of video games in Japanese convenience stores and vending machine kiosks.
At its peak in 1998, DigiCube recorded sales of 8.6 million units, equaling ¥46.8 billion JPY. On February 2, 2000, Digicube announced it would start carrying the PlayStation 2 the following month, and expected sales of 100,000 consoles and 400,000 games. In February 2001, after a thaw in relations between Nintendo and Square, Digicube began distributing Game Boy games for the first time.
In the following years; however, sales declined precipitously. Although ownership of DigiCube was passed to the newly created Square Enix following the merger of Square with its former rival Enix in early 2003, it was already approximately 9.5 billion yen in debt. Following the announcement that the much-anticipated Final Fantasy XII would be delayed until sometime in 2004 (eventually released 2006), DigiCube filed for bankruptcy liquidation at the Tokyo District Court on November 26, 2003. The bankruptcy would cost the newly merged Square Enix ¥760 million JPY.
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