PlayStation Won Final Fantasy 7 With Karaoke Nights
Sony executives sealed the deal that brought Final Fantasy 7 to PlayStation through relentless schmoozing and karaoke sessions
Sony executives sealed the deal that brought Final Fantasy 7 to PlayStation through relentless schmoozing and karaoke sessions, according to former Sony Interactive Entertainment lead Shuhei Yoshida.
The revelation comes from a recent GameSpot interview where Yoshida detailed how his boss, a Sony Music Japan veteran, personally wooed Square executives through dinners and late-night singing sessions to secure what would become one of gaming's most pivotal exclusivity agreements.
Meanwhile, Nintendo and Squaresoft's relationship had deteriorated over the former's insistence on sticking with cartridges for the Nintendo 64, despite Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's efforts to persuade them to adopt CD-ROM technology. Consequently, plans for Final Fantasy VII's Nintendo 64 release were scrapped entirely, creating an opening that Sony was determined to exploit.
The PlayStation team, led by 'The Father of the PlayStation' Ken Kutaragi, faced competition from Sega Saturn for Square's allegiance. Yoshida recalls his boss being a "really amazing schmoozer" who understood Japanese business culture perfectly. "He hung out with another vice president of Square who was running the business side," Yoshida told GameSpot. "I was taken with them to have dinner or do karaoke so many times, and he schmoozed and somehow convinced them that Sony is easy to work with."
Furthermore, Sony Music's influence extended beyond corporate entertainment. They championed the idea that game developers should be treated as artists, much like musicians. This philosophy led Sony to break industry conventions by not only allowing developers to use their real names in credits but actively promoting them through magazine interviews and public appearances.
Yoshida, who moved from heading Sony Interactive Entertainment to leading PlayStation Indies in 2019 before retiring earlier this year, emphasised that this combination of personal relationship-building and creator recognition fundamentally changed how third-party developers viewed platform partnerships. The strategy ultimately secured Final Fantasy VII as a PlayStation exclusive, cementing the console's dominance in Japan and reshaping the gaming landscape for generations.
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