Von Online Games VIP Editorial
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Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase told IGN that Star Wars influenced FF7’s Wedge and Biggs and helped inspire FFX’s Blitzball.
Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase has identified Star Wars as an important influence on the RPG series, pointing to both character names and a sports mechanic as examples. In an interview with IGN at the Lucca Comics & Games Festival 2026, Kitase discussed how creative ideas can pass between different works and generations.
IGN reports that Kitase was responding to a question about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game he understood to have been heavily influenced by Final Fantasy. He said he was pleased that the newer RPG had drawn from Square’s series and achieved success. Kitase also explained that his own work was shaped by entertainment he enjoyed when he was younger, particularly Star Wars.
According to IGN, Kitase presented creative influence as a continuing exchange rather than a one-way process. He connected his reaction to Expedition 33 with his own experience of taking ideas from films and other entertainment before transforming them into game concepts. His comments did not suggest that Final Fantasy was built from a single outside source. Instead, IGN’s report describes a broader approach in which a creator absorbs many interests and uses them as part of a new work.
That distinction matters because Kitase also said he had been careful not to copy Star Wars too directly. IGN reports that he worried an obvious borrowing could look more like a copy than an original interpretation. The examples he provided therefore show specific points of inspiration, not a claim that Final Fantasy reproduces the science-fiction franchise as a whole.
IGN’s interview frames this discussion around Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and its relationship with Final Fantasy. The supplied report does not provide a detailed breakdown of which Final Fantasy elements appear in Expedition 33, nor does it give Kitase’s assessment of the game beyond his positive reaction to its inspiration and success. Those details remain outside the confirmed scope of this report.
The clearest example Kitase gave concerns Wedge and Biggs in Final Fantasy VII. IGN reports that the two characters were named after members of the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. This is the most direct connection he mentioned, because the names themselves carry the reference rather than merely echoing a tone, structure, or gameplay idea.
Kitase also linked Final Fantasy X’s Blitzball to the podracing sequence from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. IGN reports that he needed to create an in-game sport that would fit within a fantasy setting and drew on the idea of placing a competitive sporting event inside a larger fictional world. The comparison concerns the concept of using sport in that setting. It does not establish that Blitzball copies the rules, vehicles, locations, or story of podracing.
These examples cover two different kinds of design decisions. Wedge and Biggs show how an admired work can influence naming and character presentation. Blitzball shows how a visual or structural idea from film can become a playable activity inside a role-playing game. IGN’s account attributes both examples directly to Kitase’s explanation of his own influences.
Analysis: For players, the value of Kitase’s comments is less about discovering a hidden reference and more about seeing how familiar ideas can be repurposed in a different genre. A name such as Wedge or Biggs can function as a small recognition point for fans, while Blitzball turns the broader idea of an embedded spectacle into something the player engages with directly.
That difference helps explain why references can feel meaningful without defining an entire game. A player may notice the Star Wars connection in a character name immediately, but the game still supplies its own setting, relationships, and purpose for that character. Blitzball likewise exists within Final Fantasy X’s world and systems. The source supports the claim that Star Wars helped inspire the idea, but the broader conclusion that Final Fantasy remains distinct is analysis based on the examples Kitase selected, not a separate statement from IGN.
The comments may also give players a useful way to evaluate influence in new RPGs. When a developer cites another work, the important question is not only whether a reference can be spotted. It is also how the borrowed starting point has been adapted. A character name, a competitive event, and a complete game inspired by an older RPG represent different levels of creative exchange. Kitase’s response to Expedition 33 suggests that he sees this exchange as part of how the medium develops, although the report does not establish a formal design philosophy for Square Enix or the wider Final Fantasy team.
IGN’s report also notes that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, described as the conclusion to the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, is scheduled to release on April 8, 2027. This is the only release information included in the supplied source. The article does not connect the announced date to the Star Wars discussion, and it does not identify any Star Wars-inspired content in Revelation.
That makes the timing relevant context rather than evidence of a new feature. Players following the remake trilogy now have a reported date to watch, but Kitase’s remarks do not confirm that Wedge, Biggs, or Blitzball-style mechanics will appear in the upcoming game. The source also does not provide platforms, a launch window beyond the specific date, gameplay details, or information about how the trilogy’s conclusion will handle its story.
For now, the confirmed connection is historical and creative. Kitase has explained where two recognizable Final Fantasy ideas came from, while the supplied report separately identifies the reported release date for the remake trilogy’s conclusion. Treating those as separate facts avoids reading a design implication into comments that were about inspiration rather than an announcement.
The supplied catalog includes several relevant ways to explore the two sides of this creative comparison. Players interested in Final Fantasy’s older role-playing design can try Final Fantasy 6 Advance or Final Fantasy 4 Advance. These catalog entries are not the games discussed in Kitase’s examples, but they provide Final Fantasy context without implying that they contain the cited Star Wars references.
For the other half of the discussion, the catalog lists Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. It is a relevant Star Wars game to place beside the Final Fantasy entries, though the supplied source specifically refers to the films and to the Rebel Alliance character names rather than to Rogue Squadron. The catalog also includes LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game for players looking for another game set in that universe.
What remains unconfirmed
IGN’s report confirms Kitase’s identification of Star Wars as an influence, but it leaves several questions open. It does not list every film, game, or other form of entertainment that shaped his work. It does not establish whether other Final Fantasy characters, locations, systems, or story arcs were inspired by Star Wars. Beyond Wedge, Biggs, and Blitzball, any proposed connection should be treated as interpretation unless supported by another source.
The interview also does not confirm that the Final Fantasy series will use these kinds of references in future projects. There is no reported statement about Star Wars influencing Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, and no new mechanic, character, trailer, or gameplay footage was announced in the supplied text. The release information for Revelation should therefore be watched separately from the interview’s discussion of past inspiration.
The next useful evidence will be more direct material about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, including official gameplay information, character details, and statements about its design. For the broader influence question, further interviews could clarify whether Kitase sees the examples from Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X as isolated references or part of a larger pattern. Until then, the confirmed story is narrower but still revealing: a major Final Fantasy creator says Star Wars helped shape selected names and a notable in-game sport, while emphasizing transformation over direct copying.