Final Fantasy 14 Bassist Eikichi Iwai Dies at 57
Square Enix has announced the death of Eikichi Iwai, the bassist for The Primals, the house band of the online role-playing game Final Fantasy 14. He was 57.
The publisher made the announcement on 11 November 2026 in a post titled "Important Announcement" on the game's official website. The post was issued in the names of the members and staff of The Primals and the game's development and operations teams. It described his passing as sudden.
The Primals is the band that plays music tied to the game's world. Its lineup, besides Iwai on bass, includes Masayoshi Soken, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, Tetsuya Tachibana and GUNN. Iwai performed on stage at the recent Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival in Japan, one of the game's live events for fans.
Players have responded with their own tributes. According to GameSpot, players held firelight vigils and gatherings in the main hub cities on the game's servers. Servers are the separate copies of the game world that players log into, and each has its own central meeting places.
Final Fantasy 14 is a game people play together over the internet, so these gatherings have been a way for players to mark the loss side by side. Square Enix has not announced any further plans in the post reported so far.
Iwai's death is a loss for the band and for the players who came to know his playing through the game. The announcement asked for nothing more than that the news be shared with care.
