Naoki Yoshida: Will not leave Final Fantasy 14 and will continue to develop for a long time

"Final Fantasy 14" director Naoki Yoshida said he has no plans to withdraw from the game in the near future.

In a latest interview with Noisy Pixel, Yoshida was asked how he stayed enthusiastic about the 12-year-old game and what made him still serve as the director of Final Fantasy 14 more than a decade later.Yoshida replied that his job is to continue developing Final Fantasy 14, and that anyone who is tired of certain games should not work in a company that has such a heavy responsibility.

吉田直树:不会离开《最终幻想14》 会继续开发很久

“I’m more of a businessman, I make games, and of course people tend to say we’re creators or creators, but I’m an employee of Square Enix, and I make money by making games.

I think my main goal is to make games so that we can deliver them to gamers, fans, and players who want to consume our products.I think this is the company’s basic requirement, or the minimum requirement, because I belong to this company.

Of course, if you work in a company, get tired of a project, and start saying, “Well, I don’t like this game, I’m tired of this game”, then I think if these people want to pursue this style, they need to leave the company environment.But I personally don’t have that strong desire to pursue my personal creative intentions.“

Still, Yoshida said that this does not mean he continues to develop Final Fantasy 14 because he feels he has to, but because he still has plans for the game.

“When asked if I would get bored with Final Fantasy 14, I don’t think so, because there are still a lot of things in 14 that I haven’t achieved yet, like what I want to do, what I have to do, what I have to deal with, so, I think I should continue to develop for at least a considerable time.”

"Now, if there is one thing I would rather do less, even though I might be scolded, I would rather not do much management or operational things. I have done a lot of game development and sometimes sacrificed some sleep time, but if I have the option, I might prefer to focus on game development design."

Earlier this month, Yoshida said the “content level” of Final Fantasy 14 needs to be “significant changes” to ensure that players of all experience levels want to fully interact with each wave of new content rather than just picking the parts that suit their skill level.