Naoki Yoshida interview: Square Enix icon details the future of Final Fantasy 14

“I would like to arrange it so that even after I retire, 14 will continue”

Naoki Yoshida / Square Enix

Naoki Yoshida is a video game legend. Producer, director and designer at Square Enix, he’s best known for his work on the Final Fantasy series, and most recently, the hugely successful MMO Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn.

His career started in 1996 with Bomberman 64: The Second Attack and Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth. Yoshida joined Square Enix in 2004 as a member of the Dragon Quest X team. His storied history in the Final Fantasy series kicked off when he was hired as the director of Final Fantasy 14 – his masterwork. 

First released in 2013 on PC and PS3, it’s still going strong, with an Xbox version launched in March 2024 and its fifth major expansion, Dawntrail, coming not long after.

In the interview below we talk the future of Final Fantasy 14, what other Final Fantasy games he’d love to remake, and how many more years he has left in the industry.

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail / Square Enix/GLHF

Video Games On Sports Illustrated: Final Fantasy 14 is a huge success. What areas of the game would you like to improve the most? 

Naoki Yoshida: Rather than say in the sense of improving the most, Final Fantasy 14 is an MMO and we are constantly expanding the world. Our main goal for the time being is to incorporate game experiences that players haven’t seen before in Final Fantasy 14. 

Could you elaborate on why the Final Fantasy 9 Easter eggs were in Final Fantasy 14?

I remember when the original Final Fantasy 14 was released. That was back in 2010 and it was on PC and at that time I was not part of the development staff. But I remember seeing the response from the media and the players. I played it myself and I felt that it’s really not like a typical Final Fantasy title. There really wasn’t much typical FF-ness that you would expect, and I remember the media and the players saying that feedback a lot as well. 

So when I eventually took charge of the project and I was in charge of relaunching Final Fantasy 14, I considered the long history the Final Fantasy franchise has, but I thought that the franchise itself is a little bit weak in the sense of fan service and especially considering that this is a game that regardless of your age, your gender, your country, anyone can enjoy and play together. And when I had that in mind, I thought I wanted to have one concept of Final Fantasy 14 being as a theme park for the franchise, of sorts, and up until now we had yet to really incorporate many elements of Final Fantasy 9. So that’s the main reason why we decided to incorporate more of the essence of Final Fantasy 9. 

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail / Square Enix/GLHF

What is the synergy like between the various Final Fantasy teams, and are there any ideas that could be shared between the teams? 

The franchise is quite unique in the sense that whenever a new title is released, the characters are different, the world is different, the story is different, the world design is different, and the battles are different. So of course between the teams we have been sharing technology, but when it comes to the question of synergy from a game design perspective, when I think about Final Fantasy 14 it is true we took Materia from Final Fantasy 7, so in that regard we were paying homage to Final Fantasy 7. So I think that there is quite a strong synergy in Final Fantasy 14 and at the same time it is the same team who developed Final Fantasy 16. So in that sense as well, I think we have recently had a strong synergy between the titles. 

If you could remake any classic Final Fantasy game, what would you make? 

Oh man, that’s a super tough question. The one that I would like to make myself would be Final Fantasy 3, I think. Of course, I do know there are requests for Final Fantasy 9 to be made, but when you think about Final Fantasy 9, it’s a game with huge volume. When you think about all of that volume, I wonder if it’s possible to remake that as a single title. It’s a difficult one. It is a tough question.

Onto Dawntrail. What is the subtext of Dawntrail? And for you, what is it about? 

When you talk about deep meanings, I haven’t really considered such noble things when I engage in day-to-day development. Final Fantasy 14 is an MMORPG, and the reason for creating the expansions is to expand the world. So, in that sense, each expansion has its own meaning, and that’s what it was this time, the theme of this expansion. 

But when we look at Dawntrail, the main theme that we had was to create a new area. So this would be a new area that players would see, they would get to know about, and then they would be able to travel across that area. So, with that as the theme in mind, if you were to ask whether we had created Dawntrail to be the best form of entertainment, my answer would be no, but rather it’s the case that this is a step that we will be taking when we look towards the future of Final Fantasy 14. 

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail / Square Enix

What is the future of Final Fantasy 14?

So my target with Final Fantasy 14 is to have as many players as possible enjoy the game across all devices. So we will continue expanding on this and continue making content and forms of play so that players will be able to enjoy the game. This is a concept that I had in mind right from the start of the project and I would like to continue working towards that vision. 

Do you have any news on the Final Fantasy 16 Xbox port? 

Of course we did announce the PC version of the game, so looking towards the Xbox version, we do want to release it on Xbox. But when it comes to the specifics such as when the game would be available and such, we are not in a position to be able to share anything. But of course, I want to say that it’s not as if there’s zero hope, and we very much do want to achieve that. So players should not give up in terms of their hopes. 

What’s been your favorite minigame from across Final Fantasy? 

That would be the snowboarding in Final Fantasy 7. The reason why is because I go snowboarding myself in real life. Actually, back in the time the original Final Fantasy 7 was being developed, snowboarding had a huge boom in Japan, and I think that probably played a part in the development of that minigame. 

Professionally, what’s next in your career? 

I don’t really think about where to take my career next. I just want to continue making games. That’s my top priority. I would like to stay on the frontlines and be involved in game development. Having said that, I consider Final Fantasy 14 as my life work. So, I would like to continue developing 14 until I retire. And I would like to arrange it so that even after I retire, 14 will continue.

In terms of my future dream, I would like to buy a mountain where it snows and on that mountain I would build a cottage and I would acquire all the machinery, all the equipment for making games and I would develop games remotely. And whenever it snows, then I would be out there on that mountain snowboarding every day. So that’s my ultimate goal that I have in mind. 

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail / Square Enix/GLHF

There was a two-year gap between Endwalker and Dawntrail. Will the next DLC have a similar gap? 

Yes, there will be the same time gap involved. I intend to continue that and we will continue to deliver new experiences for the players. Between expansions we do plan major content updates, and generally we plan two and a half years ahead, so we are continually working on providing new experiences for the players.

You’re a huge figure in the industry with a lot of fans. Do you have a message that you want to get out to your fans at this stage of your career? 

I want to say thank you to all of our players. They’ve provided passionate support, not just for us but for other Square Enix games as well, and they’ve really gotten us through tough times. So, more than anything, I would like to say thank you so much to our players.

In the Final Fantasy franchise we have support from all of our fans and also the media, and the same goes for Final Fantasy 16 as well. But I would just like to say that Square Enix is working really hard to provide new experiences and releasing new games. We are going through some tough times at the moment, but we very much appreciate the support of our players, so we do hope that you will convey our thanks to all of our fans and players.