Yoshi-P isn't stepping back from Final Fantasy 14 until Square Enix says "You've got to give up" or "I end up dying"

I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with him at Gamescom 2025, where I asked him, "What makes a great MMO?"

"Final Fantasy 14 will be entering its 13th year in service, and I think the reason why we've been able to make it this far is because of our communication that we've had with our players around the world," he begins, "our Warriors of Light."

"I think one of the important things as an MMO is to create an environment where players can log into the game, and they each have their own objectives about what they want to do in the game, and they have their own various ways that they want to play the MMO.

"For a long time, we've had our discussion with our players and members of the media. So, when I think about the support that we've received from the players, the media and everyone as well, from the community, the only thing I can say is that I'm truly thankful."

On the notion that every player plays in a different way, I ask Yoshida how he manages to create content that is fresh and exciting for everyone.

"The answer to that is very difficult. I think there is no goal or answer in mind as a developer. The only thing we can do is put in strong efforts to provide endless possibilities.

"When we look at Final Fantasy 14 as an example, we have housing implemented as a form of content in the game. And there are some types of players who like to use the housing as role play."

He added: "But when we think about implementing content or things which would be incorporated into other formats of content, for things such as battle content, we would have to be thinking about different elements and different things to implement.

"And I think we always have to constantly think about what things, what areas players feel they would like to have more convenience in, or what kinds of things players would want more to be implemented of. And I think the only thing we can do is to think about those questions and address those, and I think that's all there is to it."

"So, there's no other answer," he concluded. |Apart from that, the only thing we can do is to ensure that we are constantly adapting. And this is something that I've started to feel really strongly about recently."

Upon being asked if he has a particular game design philosophy, Yoshida notes that he does not have "one sort of philosophy in mind", before adding that "the ultimate goal is just to provide an experience which is fun and interesting for the player."

This is something that Yoshida has reflected on more recently, in part owing to the mixed reception to the game's most recent expansion, Dawntrail.

"In the previous expansion, Endwalker, we reached a huge climax, and because of that climax, we thought it was necessary to take the hero of the story on a vacation, and that was the concept behind Dawntrail.

"Having said that, as a point of reflection, I felt there was more that we could have done in the expansion, and to this end, we are now working on the story moving forward to make sure that there is more hype and excitement that's generated in the story, and we are working hard on moving this forward."

He adds that he has noticed broader trends with regard to what players want from FFXIV, and concedes that he and his team may have been "a little bit late" in addressing this.

"In a way, it was good that we got used to the way that we approached our development, but also, on the other hand, in regard to the situation we faced, and the way that we became used to our development has also been a bad thing, and we also need to work on ensuring that the way that we provide content is provided on a higher level.

"When it comes to providing proof to our players that change has taken place, that proof would be found in the updates and the content and the story that the players would be experiencing when we deliver it to them.

"So, I do hope that when we deliver that content to the players, they would play all of it and experience that content, and they would appreciate the changes that we’ve made in order to provide a better experience."

I take this as a golden opportunity to ask the burning question: "Is there anything that you can share about the next expansion?"

"Of course, we haven't announced a 'next' expansion," Yoshida laughs, "so I think people are probably thinking, 'Well, they probably are working on the next expansion'.

"The only thing I would say is that we will do our best in the development, so hypothetically, if we were hypothetically already developing it, I would say the progress is going smoothly."

A thread running throughout our conversation is that Final Fantasy 14, in its current form, is entering its 13th year of service. After so long dedicating himself to one title, I posit whether Yoshida has any interest in stepping back to take on other projects.

"As someone who started the relaunch of [FFXIV], I have the responsibility for that. As long as they don't tell me 'You've got to give up now', I will continue to make Final Fantasy 14 my life's work, as it were, and as an employee of the company, if people want me to continue working on 14, then I will do it.

"But having said that, I'm now 52 years old, and if I end up dying, I will no longer be able to work on the game, so I do need to put in some good efforts to make sure that I don't die as well," he jokes.

"But when I get older, for example, if I reach the age of 60 or even older than that, maybe I can't always be working on 14 and there would naturally be new challenges that I would need to take on.

"So, I don't think about things in terms of a short time span, but I always have in my mind that I want to continue working on the development of 14 and enjoying the game together with our players."

Check out the rest of this interview on the Radio Times Gaming YouTube channel.

Final Fantasy 14 is available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

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