Aside from theNierseries’ creator Yoko Taroand Tetsuya Nomura of theKingdom Heartsfranchise, it seems no other Square Enix video game director or producer shares the same popularity as that ofFinal Fantasy 14’s Naoki Yoshida. Fondly called “Yoshi-P” by fans and players, Yoshida recently gave an in-depth interview in which he talks about Square Enix’s and his predictions thatFF14may continue running online for at least five more years.
WithFinal Fantasy 14’s next expansionEndwalkerjust recently announced, fans are likely very excited to learn more about what is in store for the MMORPG. With only a short trailer and some official information to go on, interviews with the development team on the future ofFinal Fantasy 14are probably anticipated and well-received by fans around the world.
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In the interview, Yoshida talks about Square Enix’s goals and the team’s development process forFinal Fantasy 14. With the MMO hitting a 20 million playerbase worldwide across several platforms, Square Enix is pushing the team to move forward until the game reaches 30 million players. The company, along with Yoshida, also foresees that the title will keep running for at least half a decade more, given how fast and consistent the fanbase is growing. Yoshida reiterates this, saying that as long as people keep returning to the game,Final Fantasy 14may never reach the end of its life cycle.
Yoshida also shares some snippets of the team’s development process behind the game’s continuous content, be it for the title’s main narratives orFinal Fantasy 14’s cycling seasonal activities. Each piece of content that is announced for the game is already expected to be at least 60-70% complete, with the remaining percentage meant to fine-tune or focus on new features that will prevent player fatigue or boredom. Yoshida shares that from concept to approvals and programming, every step is already very well-planned, meaning most of the team’s resources have already been allocated.
With such a rigorous production process, Yoshida says that expanding the game into other platforms may be out of the question. This meansFinal Fantasy 14will not be released on Xboxor other gaming platforms any time soon. However, this type of quality assurance within the game’s production has likely been a huge factor in makingFF14one of the best modern MMOs to play.
AsFinal Fantasy 14 Endwalkerlaunches in 2021, fans are likely curious how Yoshida will continue managing the MMO’s content. Considering he also plays a big part inSquare Enix’sFinal Fantasy 16,players are hopeful that he brings the same kind of quality and integrity into the upcoming RPG.
Final Fantasy 14is available now on PC and PS4, with PS5 support coming in 2021.
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