Final Fantasy XIV has come a long way since its rocky beginnings back when the game first released in 2010. Since then, it has had a major overhaul from the ground up and has seen the releases of two expansions, Heavensward and Stormblood, the latter of which released just last week. The MMORPG’s rebirth and continuing success have been attributed to its producer and director, Naoki Yoshida, or Yoshi-P as he is known by fans.
In a recent interview with Kotaku, Yoshida noted that there is still a lot of work he wishes to accomplish before stepping down from his position. He also touched on a few topics that have been asked frequently from the game’s community, including whether or not a Final Fantasy XV crossover event is in the works and if the MMO will ever be playable on other consoles such as the Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch.
First off, when asked what Yoshida still wanted to accomplish with the game, he noted the story as a key element, stating the following:
“There’s this overarching story, and I’ve actually set a goal or endpoint for that arc. That’s one of the things I want to accomplish is to be able to finish that narrative.”
Additionally, when asked how long he thought that accomplishing that specific goal would take, Yoshida replied that he thinks they would “need at least another two more expansions.”
As for the the inevitable FFXV crossover event in-game, Yoshida had the following to say:
“Plans for these are moving forward. The Final Fantasy XV team has settled down on their end. We feel that it’s going to be rather hefty in volume in terms of this crossover. Once we are able to get some visual references, some graphics available, and when we decide on timing, we’ll make sure to make an official announcement.”
Lastly, Yoshida spoke about how the plans are coming along in regards to trying to spread Final Fantasy XIV to different consoles.
“I’ve said this on several occasions, but it hasn’t changed. We would love for as many players to be on FFXIV as possible.
Conversations have been had with Mr. Phil Spencer of Microsoft, and the upper management teams of Nintendo. But I have proposed a condition every time I speak with any platform manufacturers. It’s that the game has to have the capability of cross-platform play.
Of course with an MMORPG, once it launches and starts going into live services and operations, there will be a community. No matter how small it dwindles down to, we have to be responsible for taking care of those communities. It would become an obstacle if the first-party or manufacturer changed how patches are being implemented or online regulations. Some of our external parties’ regulations don’t have MMORPGs in mind in terms of how they’re regulating their online activities. Those can become a hurdle when we consider operating FFXIV for an extended period of time, and so when I talk to those first-party companies, I ask them, ‘Do you have the capability to prepare for that, do you have the resolve that you’re going to make sure to take responsibility and take care of those, do you have that willingness?’
If we are able to come to some sort of agreement, a handshake so to speak, or if it does end up being that unfortunately we can’t do a handshake with Final Fantasy XIV, either way we’ll make sure to communicate with our players. But we have been tenacious—we’ve been trying to keep at it and be persistent about our conversations.”
To read the entire interview with Yoshida, you can visit Kotaku.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for PC and PlayStation 4.
