Yoshinori Kitase Has Succeeded Shinji Hashimoto As Final Fantasy Brand Manager

The Final Fantasy franchise is a realm reborn, as longtime FF developer Yoshinori Kitase has been named the new brand manager for the series, succeeding now-Square Enix executive officer Shinji Hashimoto.

The announcement was made during a stage presentation marking Day 2 of the Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fan Festival (27:32 mark of the below video). FFXIV producer Naoki Yoshida introduced Hashimoto and invited him to the stage, where the passing of the proverbial Firaga spell was made official. Hashimoto will continue his duties as an executive on Square Enix's board of directors.

Hashimoto held the position of Final Fantasy brand manager for over a decade. He served as executive producer on every FF game since 2005, as well as The World Ends With You and multiple games in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Kitase began working with the Final Fantasy franchise as a designer for 1991's Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy. Since then he led development on some of Square Enix's more important titles, including his co-director role on 1995's Chrono Trigger, co-producer on the first two Kingdom Hearts games, and director of Final Fantasy 6, 7, 8, and 10. Kitase's next projects are the upcoming mobile titles Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis and FFVII: The First Soldier, along with the upgraded Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade coming June 10.