According to Final Fantasy XIV producer Yoshi-P, the Final Fantasy XVI leads were previously working on a new action-adventure game IP “similar to Bloodborne” – except it was also a 4v1 asymmetrical multiplayer game, too, and may have actually been released in a wildly different form.
In a published collection of Naoki Yoshida’s biweekly Famitsu column ‘Yoshida Uncensored’, which received a fan translation (via ResetEra), the producer reveals that – prior to working on MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV and the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI – he and a number of other leads worked on a different fantasy game that was “basically Bloodborne”.
“It was similar to Bloodborne,” says Hiroshi Takai, who is now the director of Final Fantasy XVI. “It had the same weapons and guns, and it was in Gothic style.” Yoshida adds that it was “not an RPG, but a fairly hardcore
action game.” However, it would also have 4v1 asymmetric multiplayer similar to Evolve or Dead By Daylight. “It was basically Bloodborne plus that system,” confirms Yoshida. “I think it would’ve been a huge failure,” he adds with a laugh.
The project was “gradually taking shape” after 6-8 months but stalled due to Yoshida’s overreliance on inexperienced developers. “I got into
heated arguments with Takai-san,” he explains, “because I was entrusting them with too much.” There is fan speculation that the project was retooled after Yoshida left to join the FFXIV team, and became the mobile RPG Bloodmasque. It was headed by Ryutaro Ichimura, to who Yoshida left projects such as Chōsoku Henkei Gyrozetter, so there may be some truth in this rumour.
Check out the Final Fantasy XVI trailer again and try not to see the FromSoftware inspiration.
As for Final Fantasy XVI, it’s in the “final stages” of development and we should be seeing a new trailer very soon.