Hironobu Sakaguchi

Hironobu Sakaguchi was born on November 25, 1962, in Hitachi, a city in Ibaraki Prefecture. His parents were from Kyushu, and he would visit there frequently with his family in his childhood. Notable elements of his youth were finding rock samples in a local quarry and gathering a collection of polished stones from an interested geologist and reading through his mother's large library. He enjoyed playing piano in elementary school, and during high school played the folk guitar and formed an amateur band with some friends and classmates, almost getting himself expelled by selling homemade concert tickets. Having little to no interest in gaming at the time, his aim was to become a musician. He was a computer science major at Yokohama National University, becoming friends with fellow student Hiromichi Tanaka. Through Tanaka, Sakaguchi got access to an Apple II computer on which he played and fell in love with Wizardry, frequently skipping classes to play it.

Sakaguchi's programming studies led him to desire an Apple II of his own. Since he could not afford one, he instead purchased a knockoff in the Akihabara district, which, although cheaper than an actual Apple II, was still expensive. Realizing that he needed funds to buy software for his computer, he began to seek a part-time job to earn the necessary income. In 1983 towards the end of their third university year, Sakaguchi and Tanaka were both looking for part-time work in the electronics sector. They found work with Square, a newly formed subsidiary of electric power conglomerate Den-Yu-Sha, formed by Masafumi Miyamoto to tap into the emerging video game market. Sakaguchi applied as Square was a new company and not as exacting as other larger companies such as Namco and Konami. The interview was quite informal, and Sakaguchi was hired. At this point, Sakaguchi still dreamed of becoming a professional musician but felt that working for a company like Square would provide him with needed programming experience in the meantime.

Square (1983–2003)

During his time at Square, he was first involved in an unlicensed adaptation of the television game show Torin-ingen, then later became part of the team for The Death Trap. There was no formal reassignment, only an informal restructure that led Sakaguchi to take on a more senior role. Following the success of The Death Trap, he took a leave of absence from university work to continue his work with Square. His first few titles including The Death Trap were for PCs, with his first Nintendo Entertainment System title being King's Knight (1986). Many of these projects, while keeping the company afloat, were not hugely successful and focused on action titles that Sakaguchi disliked. He also earned the reputation of being a hard person to work under. When Square became an independent company in 1986, Sakaguchi was appointed as a full-time employee as Director of Planning and Development. That year, following the release and success of Enix's role-playing video game (RPG) Dragon Quest for the NES, he persuaded Miyamoto to allow production of an RPG by Square. This RPG drew inspiration from multiple fantasy titles of the time including The Legend of Zelda, and Origin Systems's Ultima series.

Sakaguchi described the production as happening in "fits and starts" with a small staff as most of the company did not believe in his project. Production gained momentum during its second half and getting help from Tanaka's team. Initially titled Fighting Fantasy, he changed it to Final Fantasy to both avoid trademark conflicts with the roleplaying gamebook series of the same name and to represent his feelings at the time. Had the title failed commercially, he would have quit Square and completed his university education. In fact, Final Fantasy was an impressive commercial success, selling 400,000 units in Japan, and kickstarting the Final Fantasy series as Square's leading series. Sakaguchi acted as director for the four subsequent entries between 1988 and 1992. He was promoted in 1991 to the position of Executive Vice President, which eventually lessened his creative role in titles, with Final Fantasy V (1992) being his final directorial role with the Final Fantasy series. He notably spearheaded the creation of Chrono Trigger (1995), forming one third of the core "Dream Team" staff alongside Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, and Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama.

He acted as the producer for the company's PlayStation debut Final Fantasy VII (1997), which proved to be a massive financial and critical success. The greater production requirements of the PlayStation meant Sakaguchi became less involved in the creative process, giving greater creative control to Yoshinori Kitase, who had worked with Sakaguchi beginning with Final Fantasy V. For Final Fantasy VIII (1999), he took on the role of executive producer. He acted as producer for some projects including Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) and Parasite Eve (1998). He attempted to outsource development of a Tactics sequel, but the project was cancelled. For Final Fantasy IX (2000), a nostalgic entry which was mainly produced by a team in Honolulu, Hawaii where Sakaguchi was based at the time, he took a greater creative role including producing the title and writing the scenario.

Through this period, Sakaguchi was creating a CGI feature film based on the Final Fantasy franchise called Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, establishing the in-house studio Square Pictures in 1997 to produce it and other CGI projects. Sakaguchi intended The Spirits Within, his debut as a film director, to be the first of multiple film projects, with lead Aki Ross becoming a virtual actress whose model would be reused in other CGI movies. Due to cost overruns towards the end of production to ensure staff payments amid rising production costs, The Spirits Within cost Square and co-producer Columbia Pictures $137 million. Sakaguchi himself made a cameo appearance in the film. The commitment to The Spirits Within contributed to his less involved role in the main Final Fantasy series. He also planned to create an interactive movie, further bridging the gap between films and video games.

Upon its release in cinemas The Spirits Within grossed just over $85 million, being labelled a box office bomb. The film's failure damaged Square financially, delayed a planned merger between Square and Enix, and prompted the closure of Square Pictures. Following the failure of The Spirits Within, Sakaguchi was left in a state of low morale, and he decided to step away from active involvement in Square's projects. He was also growing tired of his administrative role within Square. In 2001, Sakaguchi resigned from his position at Square along with two other senior executives, signing an agreement to be credited as executive producer on future Final Fantasy projects. While still receiving credits on Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi spent the next three years at his home in Hawaii in a demoralized state, describing himself as "doing nothing" and feeling guilty over his lack of contributions to the industry. He eventually found the motivation to make a return to game production after talking with Toriyama and fellow artist Takehiko Inoue. Sakaguchi officially left Square in 2003, with his last major credited role being on Final Fantasy X-2.