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GamesRadar
Technology
Jordan Gerblick

Before Final Fantasy 7 blew up globally, a lot of Square Enix leadership thought there wasn't "real money" in English translations, and the localization team had to beg them for overseas releases

Square Square Enix Europe North America
Promotional art for Final Fantasy 7.

Final Fantasy 7 is widely considered one of the best JRPGs of all time for many reasons: its beautifully written and timeless story, its three-dimensional characters, its engaging gameplay, to name a few. But one other reason you might not know about is that it's largely responsible for Square Enix's embrace of the Western market following Final Fantasy 7's global success.

Richard Honeywood, a legend in the localization field and former employee of Square, explained to Time Extension in a new interview how difficult it was to persuade top brass at Square to let the company's localization team bring more games to the West... until Final Fantasy 7 "sold like hot cakes" and changed everything.

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