Yoshinori Kitase (北瀬 佳範, Kitase Yoshinori) was born on September 23, 1966. He is a Japanese business leader, video game producer, and former game director who worked for Square Enix. He directed several famous games, including Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X. He also produced Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII, and the Final Fantasy VII Remake series.

Today, Kitase is a member of the board of directors at Square Enix Co, Ltd and Square Enix Holdings. He is also an executive officer at Square Enix's Creative Studios 1 and 2 and serves as the head of Creative Studios 2.

Since 2021, Kitase has managed the Final Fantasy series brand. He previously led Square Enix's Creative Business Unit 1 and Business Division 1 during their entire existence. He also held the title of Corporate Executive. Kitase is part of the Final Fantasy Committee, which ensures that all releases and content in the franchise remain consistent.

Biography

In July 1978, when Kitase was 11 years old, he watched the movie Star Wars for the first time and was very impressed by it. He later watched a video about how the movie was made and became interested in how films are created. Kitase decided to go to Nihon University College of Art to study screenwriting and filmmaking. While he liked filming, he found greater interest in editing videos after filming because he believed it allowed him to change how the footage was understood and connect with viewers. After graduating, Kitase worked at a small animation studio that made animated TV shows and commercials. When he first played Final Fantasy, he thought about changing careers to the game industry because he saw potential in how games used animation and storytelling. Even though he had no experience with software development, he applied for a job at Square, a game company, and was hired in March 1990. Over the next ten years, he worked as an "event scripter," directing how characters moved and looked on the screen, as well as setting the timing for music and transitions. He compared this work to directing actors in films. Kitase continued to direct cutscenes, even as he took on other roles in later projects. For example, he directed parts of the event scenes in Final Fantasy VIII and planned the Nibelheim section of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

When many players asked for a "simple fantasy world" after playing Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, Kitase wanted to show that "fantasy" could mean more than just a medieval European setting. This idea led to Final Fantasy X being set in Southeast Asia. Kitase said that Final Fantasy VII is his favorite game, and its main character, Cloud Strife, is his favorite character. In an interview, he mentioned that he enjoys playing first-person shooter games. Kitase supervised the Final Fantasy VII: Technical Demo for the PS3. The creator of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, said that Kitase took over the leadership of the series.