Final Fantasy XIV Producers will keep promises even if players leave

by Alex Donaldson on 20 October, 2011

Final Fantasy XIV Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida has vowed that his team will keep their recent promises outlined for Version 2.0 of the game even if the number of users on the game drops when they begin charging for subscriptions again in November.

Speaking to RPG Site in an interview about the plans for Version 2.0 and the future of the game, Yoshida was refreshingly candid about the potential loss of users when the game begins to charge for subscriptions again in late November.

"We're not really worried about the numbers now, because we’ve made, and we’ve promised to our players that we’re going to be doing this," he said, referring to the detailed Version 2.0 'Roadmap' he and his team released last week.

"Even if numbers drop off, we still have those promises to keep, so we’re going to continue following that plan. Hopefully, even if it does drop off, the players will know that this is our roadmap. We’re not going to drop off, even if we’re not able to retain 100% of the numbers."

Final Fantasy XIV went free to play almost immediately after launch after players complained of the game being borderline broken. Many of the top staff on the game were replaced - including Producer & Director Hiromichi Tanaka, who Yoshdia replaced - and Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada described the game as having "greatly damaged" the Final Fantasy brand and name. With Version 2.0, the developers finally have a plan they believe will return the game to the quality it should've been.

Be sure to check out out full, massive interview with Yoshida through this link.