Highlights
- Final Fantasy 14 has seen great success since its reboot in 2013, with four expansions released and a fifth on the way in 2024.
- Despite expanding the free trial to include two expansions, director Naoki Yoshida doesn’t see the game going entirely free-to-play.
- The development team has no plans to move on to a new game, as creating something new could be more difficult than rebuilding Final Fantasy 14.
The director behind the long-running MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 comments on whether the game could go free-to-play. Square Enix is celebrating Final Fantasy 14‘s 10th anniversary this year, after the game’s rebooted release in 2013 under the “A Realm Reborn” subtitle. Famously, the game had suffered from its initial launch in 2010 that it required a full restart three years later. This is all possible thanks to its director, Naoki Yoshida, who had managed to turn the game around from something lackluster to a title that is still being played today.
The success of Final Fantasy 14 has paid dividends, as it managed to release four expansions throughout the past decade, with the fifth Dawntrail expansion releasing in Summer 2024. Not only that, the game’s free trial has also been expanded, giving players not only access to the base game, but two of its massive expansions at no extra cost. With the MMO expanding its free trial to such a degree, some might wonder if the game would consider going entirely free-to-play. Yoshida has promptly stated that the game’s future likely won’t go down that route.
In a Eurogamer interview, the director was asked if Final Fantasy 14‘s expansive free trial might encompass the entire game one day. Yoshida stated that it won’t, but the free trial itself might expand even further as it goes along. He cites the amount of time and money invested into these expansions could only be made back by the revenue of the sales that the expansions themselves generate. Yoshida further notes that the developers are aiming to make the best content that can be enjoyed by its players while considering the business side.
While the MMO has been a massive success for Square Enix, Yoshida was also asked how much left could be done with the game. According to the director, the development team have no plans to move to a new game just yet, admitting that creating something new could be more difficult than when Final Fantasy 14 had to be rebuilt from scratch. He notes that if some inspiration does come to him, he might pursue it.
Final Fantasy 14‘s turnabout from an unfinished mess to a success story is an experience that Yoshida is proud of, along with the ability to keep the game fresh for both a newcomer of the genre and a veteran player. He voiced how happy he is for the endless support that he and the team received, allowing them to keep the game exciting for gamers.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5 with an Xbox Series X/S version coming in Spring 2024.
Source: Eurogamer
