Hiroyuki Itou

Developer BIO

Hiroyuki Itou (伊藤 裕之) is a Japanese game designer who is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy series. He is responsible for creating some of the most influential gameplay elements of the series, as well as directing and designing some of the installments. He was the director of Final Fantasy VI (1994), Final Fantasy IX (2000), and Final Fantasy XII (2006).

His most famous invention is the ATB (active time battle) combat system, which he designed for Final Fantasy IV (1991) after watching Formula One racing and coming up with the idea of speed attributes for characters that affected their turns. Other notable elements he introduced include ability points (AP) that allow characters to gradually learn new abilities, various enhancements to the Job system, as well as the seamless exploration and battles in Final Fantasy XII.

According to Itou himself, his design philosophy places customization and gameplay variety over event scenes and storytelling. He believes that the gameplay system he designed for Final Fantasy XII was an important contribution to the development of the Japanese RPG genre.

Also Known As

• Hiroyuki Ito
• H. Ito

Websites

• Wikipedia: Hiroyuki Ito -- Information about Hiroyuki Ito at Wikipedia
• Hiroyuki Itou profile -- on the Square Enix People Database.

Games Credited

• Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (2009), Square Enix, Inc.
• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy IV (2007), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Meteos: Disney Magic (2007), Buena Vista Games, Inc.
• The World Ends With You (2007), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy III (2006), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy XII (2006), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Grandia III (2005), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004), Square Enix Co., Ltd.
• Disney's Party (2003), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Final Fantasy Anthology: European Edition (2002), Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd.
• Grandia Xtreme (2002), Enix Corporation
• Final Fantasy Chronicles (2001), Square Electronic Arts L.L.C.
• Final Fantasy IX (2000), Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated
• Grandia II (2000), Game Arts Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy Anthology (1999), Square Electronic Arts L.L.C.
• Final Fantasy VIII (1999), Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd.
• Final Fantasy Tactics (1997), Square Co., Ltd.
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996), Nintendo of America Inc.
• Chrono Trigger (1995), Square Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy III (1994), Square Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy V (1992), Square Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy II (1991), Square Co., Ltd.
• Final Fantasy III (1990), Square Co., Ltd.
• Rad Racer II (1990), Square Soft, Inc.
• The Final Fantasy Legend (1989), Square Co., Ltd.
• Square no Tom Sawyer (1989), Square Co., Ltd.