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Final Fantasy XIV is undoubtedly one of the most popular video games on the planet today. Playable on almost every gaming console and platform and with thousands of hours of content, Square-Enix’s crown jewel of an MMO delivers an entire world for its 30 million registered players to get lost in, and, largely, all of those people look to one man as the captain of the ship: Naoki Yoshida.
Naoki Yoshida is the game director of Final Fantasy XIV and is largely credited with giving the game a new lease on life after a disastrous initial launch in 2010. The title’s 2.0 re-launch, also known as A Realm Reborn, completely revamped the franchise and delivered one of the gaming industry’s most successful underdog stories.
Now, with the game finishing its first major story arc with 2021’s Endwalker expansion, and a new tale beginning in 2024’s Dawntrail, we sat down with Yoshida-san to talk through what it’s like to take on a new adventure, as well as what it’s like to be one of the most popular video-game developers in the world.
MoM: What is it like being a bit of a celebrity in the FFXIV community? What’s the relationship like between you and your fans?
I think of all of the people in the Final Fantasy XIV community as my comrades and allies. For us in the development team, we have a desire to build and expand the game because we want our players to keep enjoying it. On the other hand, our players also want to see the game expanded and want to continue enjoying it, so I think that we have a common goal in that regard.
I think that when we do go to events and players will approach me, it’s very easy to just come up and say hi and to have a chat, and to think that players view me in that light makes me extremely glad and I think that’s the only thing I can say. Of course, there are some players in the community that got to know each other in the game and then ended up getting married and having kids, and while I’m doing the live letters, they’re watching as a family.
“The kids who watch me probably think I’m a YouTuber.”
MoM: It’s funny that you say that; I’ve played a lot of this game with my friends, and we’ve met people in the game who have gone on to become our friends outside of the game. Games are very social now and something like Final Fantasy XIV could be the main way people stay in touch with their friends.
What is it like working on a platform that is ostensibly a game but is also a place for people to meet and socialise?
When I started playing MMORPGs, I started with the beta of Ultima Online, and for me, it was a culture shock. In the game, you’d do things like hunt a deer and then use the hide of the deer to create something, which you could sell, and then go on to buy a house, and it was a real sensation of living within the world and, for me, that was a huge moment.
In Final Fantasy XIV, we know that it’s important for people to be able to take some time and play alone, and they can do that. Maybe after a hard day of work—they’re tired and they don’t really want to communicate with those around them—they can still login and there’ll be people there, but they can take time out and just chill by themselves. We understand that that’s what people want from the game sometimes.
Of course, there are other people who will want to join together and have some fun together, but those solo players can sit back in the corner and enjoy a drink or something, and we understand that our players want to be able to enjoy both of those experiences. Now that we have a multitude of communities in the game that enjoy the game in their own way, more than anything, it just makes me extremely happy. We have a wonderful variety of communities in the game.
And because we have that wide variety [of people] enjoying the game, and many different communities, we do see that there are people that make new friends, or best friends, in the game, and those that find their life partners in the game. I’m extremely happy that we’ve been able to provide this platform.
MoM: The last decade or so of online games has been really interesting. We’ve seen live-service games like Destiny pop up, and we’re kind of used to every game having some kind of online component now. Tell me a bit about what it’s like working on an MMO in that space, where everything is online. What’s the future of the MMO?
I think it’s a little bit nonsensical to compare online and offline games, and the reason for that is that regardless of whether it’s a standalone title or an online title—if the game is fun, then it’s great.
Of course, entertainment, in general, now includes more than just video games, and because there are more forms of entertainment, [people’s preferences] are based on their lifestyle. In one day the amount of time people can dedicate to playing games has become less because of the advancements in entertainment and how things have changed, so when it comes to game design and designing a system where people can be matched without spending too much time waiting, and can get excitement without spending too much time, I think those speedy aspects of FFXIV are on trend, and are very modern. With Final Fantasy XIV, we want our players to enjoy the game at their own pace and that’s different in the sense that people are being matched quickly, and are getting to experience the game in a short time.
However, I think it’s a different format to entertainment. To provide more context, with Final Fantasy XIV we’re aiming to provide a more emotional response where people can feel emotion, and we’re looking to build on that.
“I think it might no longer be appropriate to term Final Fantasy XIV as an MMORPG.”
When it comes to the question of what gives us the edge over our competitors, I think it’s because we have this 10-year history, and throughout that history, we’ve been updating systems and content, and have a huge wealth of content in the game. On top of that, we offer a very stable service, and we want to keep expanding on that so that the competition can’t catch up, and specifically I want to keep expanding on the things you can only do in Final Fantasy XIV.
MoM: Endwalker finished up that massive 10-year story and Dawntrail kicked off the beginning of a new chapter. Does that feel freeing for you and your team?
I think it’s maybe a question of what it means to feel liberated. Of course, there are some things that are in the game from [the first launch] when I wasn’t in the development team at the time, so if we were to say that maybe we don’t have to pay so much attention to that, then it is liberating. On the other hand, with the content from [A Realm Reborn] through to [Endwalker], this is all content that we’ve worked on as a team and created, and we can’t just go and throw that all away: including the characters. I don’t want to say that we don’t have the freedom [to do that]; rather, it’s a sense of responsibility because we’ve created these things, and we want to hold onto them and take them forward, and we always keep that in mind with our developments.
Of course, when we are working toward a [story] climax, and we are getting closer and closer to that, our focus becomes stronger and we don’t have any leeway to shift here and there, and in that sense, we don’t have that freedom. But, on the other hand, right now as we’re starting to work on something new [with Dawntrail], we have many different possibilities of what could happen, we have many options, and in that regard we have a huge amount of freedom. We’re now starting the work on the story of the next expansion, and because of those different possibilities, it’s super fun for us.
MoM: Okay, last question. You’ve been working on this game for a long time, and must have a bunch of ideas for other games you’ve come up with that you’d love to make: Are there plans for you to work on a new game in the next few years?
Of course, I’m a game designer, and even from before I was working on FFXIV I had ideas. I have around three or four ideas for potential new games from both before I joined the FFXIV team and after. When it comes to ideas that I get from everyday life, I always strive to include them in FFXIV, and there’s still plenty that could be included in the game, so I do enjoy expanding that game — I definitely haven’t grown tired of it.
When it comes to the question of whether I would want to create something else, I myself have ideas [for new games], but at the same time I’m working as an employee at Square-Enix, and am a member of the board, so I tend to think about what the company wants as well as what fans want. Even when I become 60 or 70 years old, I think I’ll have a desire to create something, so I think I’ll always be ready to take on that challenge. If I do want to create something new I can always do it later.
“Maybe once I become 80, I’ll leave Square and make my own game, the one I’ve always wanted to make, and I’ll set up a crowdfunding campaign. Your support will be much appreciated.”
Working on Final Fantasy XIV is fun, but at the same time, I’m the head of Creative Studio 3, and we work on other titles which I have responsibility over as well. I always want to make sure that all of the titles are [given the same weight] as my own projects, and we are providing the best experience that we can, which is a big part of my work.
We do appreciate our fans support for the other titles from our team, such as Final Fantasy XVI which I was a producer on, but there were times when people were concerned that the work I was doing on FFXVI would have a negative impact on FFXIV, but there’s really no need to worry about that: I’m just doing double the work.
DISCLAIMER: This interview was conduct through a translator, and has been edited for clarity.
