Masayoshi Soken is a Japanese video game composer and sound editor who has worked for Square Enix since 2001.
14 Facts About Masayoshi Soken
2.
Masayoshi Soken joined Square in 1998 and his early work at the company primarily focused on sound effect design, rather than composition.
3.
Masayoshi Soken assisted Kenji Ito on sports video games such as Gekikuukan Pro Baseball: The End of the Century 1999.
4.
In 2005, Masayoshi Soken worked on Drakengard 2 and Front Mission 5: Scars of the War.
5.
Masayoshi Soken arranged a few tracks from previous Mana games, and performed the electric guitar for his arrangements.
6.
Masayoshi Soken has contributed to Square Enix advertisements; Front Mission 5: Scars of the War featured the sports commercial song "Blue Stream", Masayoshi Soken's only composition in the game.
7.
Masayoshi Soken participated in a Square Enix advertisement for pencils where he got beaten up by two robots; the commercial featured music composed by him.
8.
Masayoshi Soken created the fanfare for Square Enix Music TV, a monthly video feature where new album releases are discussed and interviews with Square Enix composers are conducted.
9.
Masayoshi Soken became primary composer for the title with the launch of A Realm Reborn and the expansions that followed.
10.
Masayoshi Soken formed a rock band called The Primals with members of the sound team to play at Final Fantasy XIV events such as Fan Festival.
11.
Nobuo Uematsu's illness in 2018 prevented him from contributing the main theme to Shadowbringers as he had for every previous expansion; Masayoshi Soken was tasked with the composition.
12.
In May 2021, during the Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fan Festival, Masayoshi Soken announced that he had been receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment throughout most of 2020, adding that the cancer was in remission.
13.
Masayoshi Soken kept the treatment hidden from most of the development team, doing some of his work for Final Fantasy XIV from hospital.
14.
Masayoshi Soken primarily composes using piano and keyboard but prefers playing guitar in live performances.