![]() ![]() So history goes, Hashimoto reportedly encountered a high-ranking executive from Disney by chance, in an elevator in Japan – a meeting that led to further discussions about what a Square game starring Disney characters would look like. They reportedly came to the conclusion that only Disney characters could match the fame of the moustachioed plumber. ![]() In a time when Square and Disney were both smaller and less financially stable, Shinji Hashimoto, a Square game producer, and Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy, turned their attention to creating an open world-style game that could be as successful and recognisable as Mario. Read: Every major Marvel and DC video game in development Square has similarly grown since this era, having merged with fellow Japanese RPG giant Enix and becoming Square Enix – one of the largest game publishers in the world. This was an era that feels far removed from the successful Disney of today – which has become a major global conglomerate that rules film and television, and has recently turned its attention back to conquering the video games market. Disney was in a similar financial position at the time, and turned to employee layoffs and cost-cutting from the film and Disney parks budgets to scrape back income lost during a major recession. In the early 2000s, Square was suffering major financial losses due to the poor critical reception for a number of projects, which led to the company selling Sony a near 20% stake in its business. Two decades ago, when Kingdom Hearts first launched on PlayStation 2, gaming was still a growing industry – and neither Square nor Disney were as prolific as they would later become. The modern games industry is an oligopoly – a market ruled by a handful of major companies like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Epic Games, all of which own a number of studios, thanks to mergers and acquisitions. ![]() Revisiting the game in 2022 is a strange experience, but one that reveals just how groundbreaking and impossible the entire franchise really is. For relapsed fans, or those who’ve never played the games before, the excitement over the continuation of the series is a chance to return to it – and to reevaluate its legacy. Disney and Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts franchise has received renewed attention lately, thanks to the announcement of an upcoming sequel on modern consoles. ![]()
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