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Taitō

Taito Corporation
Native name
株式会社タイトー
Romanized name
Kabushikigaisha Taitō
Kabushiki gaisha
Subsidiary
Industry Video game industry
Arcade industry
Founded
  • August 24, 1953
  • (as Taito Trading Company)
  • June 22, 1999
  • (SQEX Corporation)
  • June 1, 2009
  • (as ES1 Corporation)
Founder Michael Kogan
Headquarters Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
  • Koichi Ishii
  • (President)
  • Yukio Lizawa
  • (Honorary Chairman)
Products
Owner
Number of employees
615 (March 31, 2015)
Parent Square Enix Holdings
Website taito.com

The Taito Corporation (株式会社タイトー Kabushikigaisha Taitō?) (commonly referred to as Taito) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher of arcade hardwares and mobile phones, and an operator of video arcades. It is also a former publisher of home video games.

Taito is wholly owned by Square Enix Holdings. Despite being a subsidiary to Square Enix Holdings, the parent company has kept the branding of Taito entirely distinct from Square Enix.

Taito is known for producing hit arcade games, such as Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble. It has produced arcade games all around the world, while also importing and distributing American coin-op video games in Japan. Taito owns several arcades in Japan known as Taito Stations or Game Taito Stations.

Taito has its headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company. In the past, the company had operated divisions in North America, Brazil, South Korea, Italy, the United Kingdom and Beijing, China.

The company was founded in 1953 by a Russian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan as Taito Trading Company (株式会社太東貿易 Kabushiki-gaisha Taitō Bōeki?). Taito started out importing and distributing vending machines. It was also the first company to distill and sell vodka in Japan. Later, it began leasing jukeboxes and eventually started to manufacture its own. Taito began producing electro-mechanical arcade games in the 1960s.


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