In March 2007, Square Enix changed the structure of their company to be project-based.

The 1st Production Department was formed from the combination of Square Enix's Tokyo and Osaka development studios in fall 2010, with Shinji Hashimoto as its corporate executive.

Despite the name, there were no "2nd" or "3rd" Production Departments at the time, the rest of the corporate structure merely resumed the usual Product Development Division system since the merging with Enix Corporation in 2003.

In December 2013, Square Enix would go under another restructure and this team would be merged onto Business Division 1.