Masayoshi Soken

One of the most acclaimed video game composers in the industry, Japanese sound editor Masayoshi Soken (January 10, 1975) is best known for his work with the Final Fantasy franchise. The son of a professional trumpet player and a piano teacher, he was born in La Paz, Mexico, but relocated to Tokyo with his family during his childhood. Even though he majored in chemistry at the Tokyo University of Science, Masayoshi Soken decided to pursue a career in music by working as a sound designer, first for Konami and then for Square Enix in 1998. He made his debut as a composer in 2002 on the sports game Nichibeikan Pro Baseball: Final League and then collaborated with synthesizer programmer Takeharu Ishimoto on World Fantasista later that year. In 2006, he teamed up with legendary composer Ryuchi Sakamoto to create the soundtrack for the adventure game Dawn of Mana. Since 2010, Masayoshi Soken has been the sound director for the massively popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, contributing original music to the expansions A Realm Reborn (2013), Heavensward (2015), Stormblood (2017), Shadowbringers (2019), and Endwalker (2021). He also founded the rock band The Primals, with whom he performs music from the Final Fantasy series at several festivals and conventions.