Final Fantasy XIV Director Wants To Make “One More MMORPG From Scratch” Before He Dies

Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida wants to make one more MMORPG “from scratch” before he dies.

“I am a game designer, so I always have several ideas for games,” Yoshida said in a recent interview with Inverse. “I can’t talk about them here, but I think that goes for any game designer. I am the kind of person who’s happy as long as they can make games, so while there isn’t anything in particular, I occasionally think that I would like to make one more MMORPG title, from scratch, before I die.”

Although Yoshida, affectionately referred to as Yoshi-P by the Final Fantasy XIV community, didn’t go into specifics on what kinds of ideas he would like to see in a new MMORPG (or whether it would be a Final Fantasy-branded project or not) he did spend the interview imagining what the future of both MMOs and online games in general could look like. Quantum computing, for example, could have major effects on the genre and video games in general in the next five to 10 years, according to Yoshida.

“This would dramatically increase server performance and elements that could be simulated,” he said. “That could lead to the creation of a living world that resembles reality, or even new ideas that create an actual online world.”

Even if Yoshida does want to make a new MMORPG, his current one isn’t likely to be going anywhere soon. Final Fantasy XIV had a disastrous original launch in 2010, but thanks in part to Yoshida’s efforts, was re-tooled and re-released in 2013 as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Fast forward to now, with Final Fantasy XIV breaking concurrent player records, Yoshida said he wants to ensure Square Enix’s MMO stays in operation for “decades to come.” Given the fact that the game is the most profitable entry in the Final Fantasy series and was a major money-maker for Square Enix in 2021, another 10 years of Final Fantasy XIV could certainly be a real possibility.

In addition to serving as director on Final Fantasy XIV, Yoshida is a producer on the single-player PlayStation 5-exclusive Final Fantasy XVI, which is slated to release sometime in Summer 2023.