Final Fantasy creator says he’s ‘excited’ to be making a new game, after deciding not to retire

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has spoken about his excitement to be working on a new game, just years after telling VGC he was thinking about retiring.

In 2021, the veteran designer told VGC he had approached Fantasian as if it were his final full title, and suggested that plans for his studio Mistwalker beyond the game’s two episodes were yet to be set.

“I think it is certainly possible that this could be my last project,” he told VGC at the time, “and that was kind of in the back of my mind as we were developing it.”

However, in late 2023 Sakaguchi then revealed that he was working on a new project, and in a new interview with Famitsu this week he said he was enjoying the feeling of working as part of a team again.

Speaking to the publication about the upcoming release of Fantasian Neo Dimension – which brings the former Apple Arcade exclusive to Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PC later this year – Sakaguchi said he’s happy he decided to work on another project instead of calling it a day.

“I genuinely made Fantasian thinking it might be my retirement work, but yes, I’m taking it back,” he laughed.

“We’re starting to talk about a new project… that is, we’re making a new game.

“It’s almost the same team that worked on Fantasian, but I can’t tell you what we’re working on yet. One thing I can say is that game production is fun. It’s probably more of a pleasure than a job now.

“It may be that I’m getting older, but I’ve come to realise that it’s really nice to be part of a group of people. I’m excited to be able to develop with everyone again. Incidentally, on a personal note, I’m expecting a grandchild soon. I hope to be able to incorporate what I feel at that time into the new game.”

While Sakaguchi hasn’t confirmed what he’s working on, his studio Mistwalker did recently file a trademark for something called ‘Fantasian: Dark Edge’.