Naoki Hamaguchi (浜口直樹, Hamaguchi Naoki?) is an employee at Square Enix who has worked on the Final Fantasy series since Final Fantasy XII (2006). He is a member of Square Enix's Business Division 1.
Profile[]
Hamaguchi was heavily inspired to make games after playing Final Fantasy VI, wanting to make a game of its quality.[1] In 2003, he graduated from HAL Nagoya College of Technology & Design and in the same year entered the games industry.[2]
After working as a programmer on the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, Hamaguchi was appointed Project Leader of Mobius Final Fantasy. He was involved with Final Fantasy VII Remake from the start of its development, but later in development was promoted to the role of Development Leader when the project switched to using a primarily internal development structure.[3] Hamaguchi is in charge of putting Business Division 1 in order concerning Final Fantasy VII Remake due to the project's director Tetsuya Nomura not belonging to a specific Business Division which allows Nomura to take on his various roles.[4]
In March 2018, Hamaguchi stepped down from his role of Mobius Final Fantasy Project Leader in order to focus on Final Fantasy VII Remake.[5] Former Mobius battle planner Takashi Shiraga replaced Hamaguchi as Mobius Final Fantasy Project Leader.
In April 2019, during the restructuring of the company's business divisions, Hamaguchi was promoted as co-director on Final Fantasy VII Remake alongside Nomura, making it his first directorial debut.[6]
In February 2021, it was announced that Nomura will be stepping down as director on future Final Fantasy VII Remake titles to focus on other projects, and that Hamaguchi would become the new main director while Nomura would remain as creative director.[7]
Works within the series[]
| Game | Release | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy XII | 2006 | Visual Effects: Real-Time Rendering |
| Final Fantasy XIII | 2009 | Lead Cut Scene Programmer Crystal Tools Development Staff |
| Final Fantasy XIV | 2010 | Client Programming |
| Final Fantasy XIII-2 | 2011 | Lead Application Programmer |
| Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | 2013 | Main Programmer |
| Mobius Final Fantasy | 2015 | Project Leader |
| Final Fantasy VII Remake | 2020 | Co-director (Game Design/Programming) |
| Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier | 2021 | Supervisory Support |
| Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | 2024 | Director |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.hal.ac.jp/cross/report/2412
- ↑ https://www.hal.ac.jp/cross/report/2412
- ↑ https://gematsu.com/2017/05/final-fantasy-vii-remake-development-shifts-external-cooperation-internal-focus
- ↑ https://gematsu.com/2017/07/kingdom-hearts-iii-less-disney-worlds-kingdom-hearts-ii-final-fantasy-vii-remake-along-areas
- ↑ http://www.finalfantasyunion.com/news/3784/naoki-hamaguchi-steps-aside-on-mobius-final-fantasy-to-focus-on-final-fantasy-vii-remake/
- ↑ Final Fantasy VII Remake (Accessed: April 01, 2019) at Square Enix Recruiting
- ↑ Behan, Daire (2021, February 26). "Tetsuya Nomura Will Not Direct Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2". From Gamerant. Archived from the original on 26 February, 2021.