The man behind one of the most popular, iconic franchises in video game history will be awarded for lifetime achievement at the upcoming 15th annual Game Developer’s Choice Awards.
Hironobu Sakaguchi will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement award when the ceremony takes place on March 4th at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.
Sakaguchi is best known for his work with the Final Fantasy series. He was Director of Planning and Development back when Square Enix was just Square, and was responsible for the studio’s meteoric rise. Sakaguchi created Final Fantasy as Square’s last game. The franchise’s name wasn’t just a marketing ploy: if the game failed, the studio would go bankrupt.
Obviously, the gamble worked out for everyone involved and now Final Fantasy is a household name. Sakaguchi worked on many of Square’s other hits, with credits ranging from Parasite Eve to Kingdom Hearts. Final Fantasy IX was the last in the series he produced.
In 2004, Sakaguchi stepped down from his position at Square Enix and founded developer Mistwalker. There, he produced the RPGs Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and more recently, The Last Story.
The latest out of Mistwalker is Terra Battle, a free-to-play tactical strategy RPG for mobile devices.
The Game Developer’s Choice Awards is an awards ceremony that takes place during the Game Developer’s Conference. Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine Productions, will be hosting.
The awards show will be streamed live via GameSpot.com and Twitch.tv.