Why does Final Fantasy 14 live past the “2-year expiry date” of MMOs? Yoshi-P comments 

Naoki Yoshida, the director and producer of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV, recently participated in a dialogue with Hiroyuki Nishimura, the developer of 2channel and current owner of 4chan. The two creators analyzed FFXIV’s global success and the main contributing factors of the MMORPGs “long shelf life” – which has well exceeded Yoshida’s initial predictions (source: Ecogineer Type). 

In an interview published in 2013 – the year of Final Fantasy XIV’s overhaul under Yoshida, the developer stated that MMOs come with an absolute expiration date, which he considers to be around 2 years (source: Gadget News). A decade later, Hiroyuki questions Yoshida about this remark and how FFXIV seems to have defied it (the game recently saw its highest concurrent player count in 10 years).

In response, Yoshida surprisingly stands by his opinion. However, he goes into more detail this time, noting, “This is the average per player, and if you look at consecutive playtime data of a typical MMORPG, the maximum will be around that much (2 to 2.5 years). This has not changed to this day.” 

The reason for this specific MMO “turnover rate” has to do with the turning points in people’s lives, according to Yoshida. “People’s lives tend to change drastically in about 3-year intervals due to things like school, graduation, employment, changing jobs, marriage and the like. These are times when we scrutinize ongoing things in our life, which makes us likely to quit an MMO.” 

In this context, Yoshida explains that Final Fantasy XIV’s approach is not to cling to individual players, but rather to constantly attract new users and keep expanding the player base. “Rather than focusing on how to prolong individual playtime, it’s important to keep the game fresh and extend its shelf life as a whole.” Final Fantasy XIV’s frequent corporate collaborations and buzz-making are all measures the dev team takes to prevent the game looking old and unattractive to new players, Yoshida explains. 

However, on this note, Hiroyuki remarks that FFXIV seems to be retaining its “veteran” players as well as attracting newcomers. One big thing the MMORPG does differently is regularly communicating its short- and mid-term goals with players (Yoshida has held 82 “Letter from the Producer Lives” to date).  

Hiroyuki likens what Yoshida is doing to the way Steve Jobs used to present Apple’s products, emphasizing how important it is that Yoshida keeps showing his face to fans and “letting them know that their investments will not go in vain.” The fact that the face of FFXIV has not changed throughout the years is also an important point, he notes. 

On the other hand, Yoshida does not consider his role to be irreplaceable (especially if a hypothetical change of leadership were to be followed by improvements to the game), but he stresses the importance of being genuine. “You need to use the service you provide yourself, understand what needs to be improved and expanded, and be a part of the community. If you pretend, the community will see through your lies right away.” 

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is available for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.