I know FF14 Dawntrail isn’t even out yet, but director Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida already thinks he can go up to patch 9.0 in the critically acclaimed MMORPG. It’s no secret that Dawntrail is the start of a new overarching narrative following the Hydaelyn–Zodiark arc, and I’m sure a lot of what’s set up in Tural will carry over going past 7.0, but Yoshida is already thinking ahead.
With the Final Fantasy 14 Tokyo Fan Fest keynote dumping loads of brand-new info on us, you’d be forgiven for missing Yoshida’s comments about the development and future of the MMORPG at a recent roundtable. Here, Yoshida says he’s got a lot of plans for what’s coming after Dawntrail, and even talks about what the game could look like without him at the helm.
“In my mind, I have two or three plans for development after 8.0, so I think I can continue to be in charge of the project until about 9.0 without running out of ideas,” Yoshida says at a recent roundtable attended by Famitsu. “However, I think that telling the staff too much about the future would actually make things worse, so it’s only in my head.
“First of all, I’m going to do my best in the ‘now,’ and then move forward while adjusting the steering toward the future development that I have in mind. I hope that you can continue to enjoy sailing with us on the ship [of] FF14 with peace of mind.”
With FF14 patch 6.55 starting up the Dawntrail story proper, the MMO isn’t going anywhere, and it looks like Yoshida is already kicking around ideas for the two expansions that’ll follow it. Maybe one of them will even add another new race, as it looks like FF14’s female Hrothgar might not be the last one after all if we’re vocal enough.
Yoshida goes on to call the game his “life’s work,” explaining that while there might not always be someone like him to present on stage, the FF14 team will still be capable of delivering “excitement” to players.
“I’ve only lightly talked about the direction I’m currently thinking to a few people, and there are people who are gradually taking over my functions and taking charge of them. Even if I were to go down, we would still be able to do the producing part as a team, and I think the game design direction could be handled by just a few people.”
Yoshida makes a point of highlighting how he leaves a lot of the team to design what makes FF14 great, before joking about how even if he retires he won’t be able to leave the team at Square Enix alone.
“I think things are safe for the time being, so please feel free to play with confidence. Even if I retire from the game industry, please don’t worry. In that case, I will take on the role of ‘a player constantly complaining to the development team’ (lol).”
Never change, Yoshida.
If you missed some of the biggest news from the Tokyo Fan Fest, we’ve put together all you need to know about the FF14 Pictomancer, alongside everything new Yoshida revealed about the upcoming two-dye system as well.
We’ve also got everything you need to know about the FF14 Dawntrail release date slated for this summer, which you can keep busy for by catering to your FF14 Island Sanctuary.
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