Veteran game developer and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is a huge fan of Final Fantasy 14, and he has chronicled his journeys through Eorzea and beyond on his Twitter. Recently, Sakaguchi announced he and a group of his friends had started their own Final Fantasy 14 Free Company called SQUARE, in honor of the original studio he was once a part of.
Sakaguchi was an influential developer within SQUARE before it became Square Enix. He played a major role in the creation of every single Final Fantasy title through Final Fantasy 10-2 in 2003. He left the company shortly after to found Mistwalker, the studio responsible for the Blue Dragon series, Lost Odyssey, and Fantasian.
In his recent post, Sakaguchi proudly showed off his new Free Company. With the abbreviation tag of “SQ,” he announced he was proud to belong to SQUARE once again–this time as the “Vice President” of the eponymous Free Company. Sakaguchi offered some insight into the design of the logo as well. The Black Mage hat in the logo was similar to the red triangle of the A in the original SQUARE logo, and the blue color was chosen in homage to the color of the iconic Final Fantasy logo. He also showed off his FF14 Adventurer Plate, which sported his character wearing the chicken mascot suit.
Sakaguchi and his Free Company had placed a bid for a house using the new Housing Lottery system in Final Fantasy 14, but unfortunately, didn’t win this time. His Free Company has not given up hope yet, however. If they win a lot in the future, they plan on calling it the SQUARE Development Office and will design it based on the original development studio from 1985, which he shared photos from on his Twitter.
As one might imagine, Final Fantasy fans loved Sakaguchi’s homage to his previous games. Final Fantasy 14 is a love letter to fans of the franchise, with Easter eggs and direct references throughout the game. Players offered their congratulations to him and his friends and wished them luck in the next lottery.
Some fans asked if they could join his Free Company, but considering it has six members right now, he and his friends are likely trying to keep it a close-knit group, comprising mostly of his Final Fantasy 14 raid group. Sakaguchi plays on the Anima server on the Mana Data Center located in Japan. With the Data Center Travel system coming soon to Final Fantasy 14, players on any Japanese Data Centers can visit him, and eventually, SQUARE’s Free Company house.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
