 | |
Native name | ミストウォーカーコーポレーション |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Misutowōkā Kōporēshon |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Video games |
| Genre | Video game developer |
| Founded | June 2004; 20 years ago (2004-06) |
| Founders | Hironobu Sakaguchi |
| Headquarters | 2222 Kalakaua Avenue Suite 1007,Honolulu,Hawaii, United States |
| Additional offices | Tokyo Midtown Residences 1307, 9-7-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku,Tokyo,Japan |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
Number of employees | 15 (2017) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1][2] | |
Mistwalker Corporation[a] is an American and Japanesevideo game development studio. The company was founded in 2004 byHironobu Sakaguchi, best known for creating theFinal Fantasy series. The company has created both game franchises such asBlue Dragon andTerra Battle, and standalone titles includingLost Odyssey (2007) andThe Last Story (2011). With the financial problems caused byFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and his growing dissatisfaction with management, Sakaguchi decided that he wanted to make games outside Square. Mistwalker's first two titles wereXbox 360 RPGs;Blue Dragon (2006) andLost Odyssey. FollowingThe Last Story forWii, Sakaguchi and Mistwalker changed to focus on in-house mobile titles. The originalTerra Battle saw widespread success and acclaim, leading to further mobile projects.
Mistwalker has been described by Sakaguchi as a collective of artists that oversee projects, with its independent small-scale structure setting it apart from most other Japanese game studios. Sakaguchi has commented that his aim with Mistwalker was to create innovative game titles regardless of platform, rather than staying with home consoles or mobile platforms alone. During its first years, Mistwalker co-developed console titles with other developers includingArtoon,Feelplus, andtri-Crescendo. They would also work withCavia on the cancelledCry On. Recurring individual collaborators include composerNobuo Uematsu, and artists Kimihiko Fujisaka and Manabu Kusunoki.
Mistwalker was founded inHonolulu,Hawaii byHironobu Sakaguchi, who had worked atSquare since its formation in 1983. He notably conceived and helped develop therole-playing video gameFinal Fantasy, which saved the company's finances at the time and began afranchise of the same name.[3][4][5] Sakaguchi lost prominence within Square withFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Within, a CGI film based on theFinal Fantasy property that he directed. A highly ambitious title, it greatly exceeded its budget and was a box office bomb, which damaged Square's finances, delayed their planned merger withEnix, and prompted Sakaguchi to step away from direct involvement with future Square productions.[6][7] In 2001, with Square in the red for the first time since inception, Sakaguchi resigned from his position at Square along with two other senior executives.[8][9] His main reason for this was the growing administrative duties he was having to handle in his senior position, something that kept him away from game production.[9] He signed an agreement with Square to act as executive producer forFinal Fantasy games.[8]
While Sakaguchi continued to receive credits as executive producer, he described himself as "doing nothing" in Hawaii over the following three years, having been demoralized by the movie's failure.[10] At one point, he felt guilty about his lack of contributions to the industry.[11] Motivated to return to the game industry and create his own original properties, Sakaguchi got into contact with his friends artistsAkira Toriyama andTakehiko Inoue about possibly collaborating on game projects.[10] He left Square in 2003, with his last credit with the company beingFinal Fantasy X-2.[12] Mistwalker was officially formed in July 2004, although its trademark existed as early as 2001.[6] Mistwalker is noted as being one of a group of video game companies—alongsideSacnoth,Love-de-Lic andMonolith Soft—founded by Square staff who had worked on notable games produced during the 1990s.[13] Some of the funds for its foundation came fromMicrosoft through itsJapanese game division.[14] The studio offices are based inHonolulu,Hawaii, andTokyo,Japan.[1]
The concept work for Mistwalker's first two projects,Blue Dragon andLost Odyssey, began prior to the formation of the company, with Sakaguchi enlisting both Toriyama and Inoue, and contacts withinMicrosoft Game Studios Japan (MGSJ).[15][7] Microsoft'sXbox 360 was chosen over thePlayStation 3 due to both difficulties with third-party production and personal disagreements between Sakaguchi andSony Computer Entertainment leaderKen Kutaragi.[16] Mistwalker's early games for the 360 were notable due to the console's niche status in Japan.[17]Blue Dragon, on which Toriyama collaborated, was a highly traditional RPG intended for genre fans rather than trying anything experimental on the 360, which was a niche console in Japan.[15][14] ForLost Odyssey, which featured character designs by Inoue, Sakaguchi created a narrative focused on emotion and the impact of conflict through the eyes of an immortal protagonist, collaborating with novelistKiyoshi Shigematsu on a series of visual novel stories within the game.[15][18][19] Also announced in 2005 were two other titles being handled by Mistwalker. They were theNintendo DS tactical RPGASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, co-developed with Racjin and drawing from Sakaguchi's work onFinal Fantasy Tactics;[20][21][22] and the 360 action RPGCry On co-developed withCavia, which aimed to evoke strong emotions from players through the connection between its two leads.[23][24]
Blue Dragon was released in 2006.[25] It went on to spawn a media franchise that included multiple sequels, manga adaptations, and ananime television series.[14][26]ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat andLost Odyssey were released in 2007.[27][28]Cry On was ultimately cancelled by publisherAQ Interactive in 2008, a decision attributed to then-current market conditions.[29] Mistwalker led production onAway: Shuffle Dungeon for the DS, which was released in 2008; Sakaguchi wrote the scenario, while the character designs were handled bySega veteranNaoto Ohshima.[30] Following his work onLost Odyssey, Sakaguchi took feedback from both that game andBlue Dragon and decided to create more atypical action-based gameplay alongside continuing storyline innovation.[31]The Last Story forWii was originally a science fiction-themed game with a dedicated romantic plot, but throughNintendo's input, it shifted to being a fantasy-based storyline with a general theme of companionship.[32][33][34] Releasing in 2011,The Last Story was Sakaguchi's first work as a director sinceFinal Fantasy V (1992).[35]
Following its console collaborations and large-scale RPGs, Sakaguchi wanted to focus on smaller-scale mobile titles it could produce mostly on its own.[36][37] The choice to shift away from larger console projects was also motivated by Sakaguchi wanting to work with a small hand-picked team.[38] Mistwalker's first solo project wasParty Wave, a surfing simulation.[37] The second released mobile title wasBlade Guardian, a tower defence title created with several former Square co-workers; Sakaguchi created the game based on his liking for the genre.[39][40]Party Wave was unsuccessful and prompted Sakaguchi to reevaluate his approach to mobile game development. This led to the production ofTerra Battle, a small-scale RPG.[41][42]Terra Battle was one of several proposals created by Sakaguchi, with one such proposal being a game featuring a ballet dancer.[43]
Terra Battle proved to be a worldwide success, prompting Sakaguchi to expand it into a larger franchise that included a direct sequelTerra Battle 2 co-developed withSilicon Studio, and a spin-off titledTerra Wars, which made use ofclaymation incorporated into the game. As of 2017, he was also planning out a third mainlineTerra Battle title.[44] By 2020, all threeTerra Battle titles had been shut down;Terra Battle 2 andTerra Wars were closed due to mixed reactions and trouble updating them based on feedback, whileTerra Battle shut down after nearly six years due to growing difficulties keeping the game's quality high.[45][46][47] After replayingFinal Fantasy VI, Sakaguchi rediscovered an earlier passion for creating emotional narratives. Production began in 2018 onFantasian, an RPG inspired byFinal Fantasy VI and developed for theApple Arcade service. A notable element was the use of real-lifedioramas scanned into the game and used for its environments.[48][49] An enhanced version,Fantasian: Neo Dimension, was released for consoles and PC by Square Enix in December 2024, making it the first collaboration between Sakaguchi and Square Enix in 21 years.[50]
| Year | Title | Platform | Co-developer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Blue Dragon | Xbox 360 | Artoon[51] |
| 2007 | ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat | Nintendo DS | Racjin[21] |
| Lost Odyssey | Xbox 360 | feelplus[52] | |
| 2008 | Blue Dragon Plus | Nintendo DS | feelplus,Brownie Brown[53] |
| Away: Shuffle Dungeon | Nintendo DS | Artoon[30] | |
| 2009 | Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow | Nintendo DS | tri-Crescendo[54] |
| 2011 | The Last Story | Wii | AQ Interactive[55] |
| 2012 | Party Wave[56] | Android,iOS | |
| Blade Guardian[57] | iOS | ||
| 2014 | Terra Battle | Android, iOS | |
| 2017 | Terra Battle 2 | Android, iOS | Silicon Studio[44] |
| 2019 | Terra Wars | Android, iOS | Arzest[58] |
| 2021 | Fantasian | iOS,macOS,tvOS,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5,Xbox Series X/S,Windows |
During its early days, rather than developing titles themselves, Mistwalker would oversee production.[9] It would act as a concept studio with a staff of at most twenty people, outsourcing most of development to chosen production partners.[2] The studio was described by Sakaguchi as a collective of elite developers similar to a Hollywood studio.[6] This approach of a concept studio that moves freely between development partners is rare in Japan, where larger corporations and studios with sizeable teams is the norm.[2] Many of the companies Mistwalker worked with would eventually become first subsidiaries of and then be absorbed into AQ Interactive, including Artoon, Feelplus and Cavia.[59]
A notable team member at Mistwalker from 2009 onwards was artist Kimihiko Fujisaka, known for his work on theDrakengard series.[12][60][61] In later years, a second artist called Takatoshi Goto would contribute to titles, being described as Fujisaka's protegee.[62][63] Another recurring artist is Manabu Kusunoki, known for his work on thePanzer Dragoon series.[64][65] Under Artoon and later Arzest, Kusunoki contributed concept art and in-game illustrations to multiple projects.[63][65][66] A recurring musical collaborator is composerNobuo Uematsu, who also worked on theFinal Fantasy series.[67]