There are certain developers out there that house creative talents that essentially prop up the entire structure of the studio. Kojima Productions wouldn’t be able to function the way it does now withoutHideo Kojima,even with his morbid USB stick of game ideas, and the same could be said aboutthe likes of Yoshi-P and Square Enix, and - to a certain extent -Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware.
If any of these developers were to leave their respective studios, it would be disastrous for those that remained, and that’s exactly what happened when Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square Enix back in 2003, back when it was just called Square. It was a momentous decision, and one that probably drastically altered the direction of theFinal Fantasyseries.
Final Fantasy Creator’s Departure From Square Enix Caused A “Collapse” At The Company
In fact, Sakaguchi’s departure was so disastrous that Square “suddenly collapsed” after he left. This is according to legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, who claimed in the latest episode of his podcast series NOBIYO To Isshoni (translated by Automaton) that the situation at Square was “awful after he quit”. Uematsu even admits that Sakaguchi’s departure contributed to him leaving a year later.
“Maybe Sakaguchi isn’t aware of this, but the situation at Square was awful after he quit,” says Uematsu. “He left and the organization suddenly collapsed. I thought to myself –Oh no, I should get away from here.”
Of course, it’s worth noting that Square wasn’t doing great when Sakaguchi was at the helm, having released a box-office bomb in Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, on top of a lengthy delay to Final Fantasy 10. Those two financial disasters on top of each other probably had Square in a rough spot anyway, but Uematsu credits the studio for getting back on its feet.
Now, Sakaguchi is free to make his own games, which he has been doing quite consistently ever sinc he established his own studio, Mistwalker, back in 2004. It’s had some cult classics, like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, and most recently released Fantasian: Neo Dimension. Everything worked out in the end, though it does make you wonder how Final Fantasy would be doing now had Sakaguchi stuck around at Square Enix.
