Akitoshi Kawazu
"Crystal Chronicles" was the first original "Final Fantasy" title to be developed for a Nintendo console since the release of "Final Fantasy VI" in 1994. "Final Fantasy" developer Square had broken with Nintendo to develop "Final Fantasy VII" for Sony's new PlayStation console, resulting in a long-standing enmity between Square and Nintendo. In 2001, following the financial failure of the feature film "", Sony purchased a stake in the company amounting to 19% of shares. After considering their still-poor financial situation and wishing to keep their staff from leaving, Square decided to begin developing titles for Nintendo consoles once again. Sony, whose rivalry with Nintendo had softened with the appearance of Microsoft's Xbox on the console market, agreed to the partnership on the condition that it would not impact development of titles for the PlayStation 2. This resulted in the creation of "The Game Designers Studio", a shell company for Square's Product Development Division 2 co-owned by Square and Akitoshi Kawazu, a staff member famous for his work on the "SaGa" series.