Masaharu Iwata

Who is Masaharu Iwata?

Masaharu Iwata is a Japanese video game composer. After graduating from high school, where his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band, he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there, beginning with 1987's Bakusou Buggy Ippatsu Yarou, and after the company was merged into Quest he left to become a freelance composer. His most well-known projects include Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, and Soul Calibur IV, though throughout his career he has composed music for over 65 games. He is one of the founding members of Basiscape, headed by fellow composer Hitoshi Sakimoto and currently one of the largest independent video game music production companies. His compositions for strategy role-playing games such as the Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics series have been described as "among the most well-recognized in the genre".