Square Enix, is a studio familiar to most within the gaming space. It’s the company that produced classic RPGs such as Kingdom Hearts, Nier, and Chrono Trigger, to name a few. They remain a strong 3rd party Japanese developer working with Sony and Nintendo. However, this wasn’t always the case when the company was only known as Squaresoft during the 1980s.

During the studio’s early days, the studio was struggling to make a mark in Nintendo’s Famicom market. They suffered losses with their titles, seeing little financial returns. The company became wary of doing anything ambitious, as it could fuel the fire of their burning business. So, when a college dropout they hired, Hironobu Sakaguchi, pitched an idea for an expansive RPG, they rejected it. That was until their rival came up with a groundbreaking title for the RPG genre.

Enix released Dragon Quest in Japan in May 1986, taking the market by storm. Seeing the massive success Enix was relishing in thanks to their RPG title, Squaresoft reconsidered Sakaguchi’s pitch and greenlit it. Sakaguchi was quick to start development but was shocked to see that Squaresoft provided him with 7 inexperienced developers when other teams had more. Making matters worse for him, several companies mobilized their developers to chase the gold that Enix had found. Not only was Sakaguchi rivaling the Japanese game industry, but also other teams within Squaresoft.

As the development cycle sloughed on, Sakaguchi started to be pessimistic about his game, contemplating leaving Squaresoft to finish his studies in college. Yet, he was too far in working on the game, so he decided to go out with a bang. Sakaguchi wrote an epic tale for what he would call Final Fantasy, a fitting title for what he thought would be his swan song. Sakaguchi finished the game for its December 1987 release, pushing the higher-ups to create more copies to give the game a chance at success. They caved in to Sakaguchi’s gamble.

Final Fantasy became an outstanding critical and lucrative success for Squaresoft, helping them recover from their losses. The company rushed to Sakaguchi to commission a sequel, and the rest was history. To this day, Final Fantasy remains a pillar of the company with 16 main-line titles, countless spin-offs, an MMO, and part 2 of the 7th game’s remake coming this month. Its characters even appeared in crossover events like Super Smash Bros and Apex Legends.

Hironobu Sakaguchi’s last-ditch effort became a giant in gaming, revolutionizing RPGs forever. His story is an inspiration to all, showing that despite the circumstances, anyone can create their dream project. Sakaguchi may have left Square Enix in 2003, but his influence stuck to all in and outside the studio. Dragon Quest may have started the RPG genre in Japan, but Final Fantasy changed it forever.

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Work Cited

Video Game Story Time. “Final Fantasy: The Story of Hironobu Sakaguchi and the Game That Saved Square.” YouTube, 30 November 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usngxO3SIEM. Accessed 10 February 2024.