Naoki Yoshida Confirms He’ll Keep Working on Final Fantasy XIV “For At Least A Good While”

Naoki Yoshida, better known to fans as Yoshi-P, has reassured the Final Fantasy XIV community that he is not stepping away from the beloved MMORPG any time soon. After more than a decade at the helm as both producer and director, Yoshida made it clear in a recent interview with Noisy Pixel that he intends to continue leading the game’s development “for at least a good while.”

When asked what keeps him motivated to work on a single title for so long, Yoshida’s answer was pragmatic rather than romantic. Speaking through a translator, he explained:

“I'm more of a businessman, and I make games, and of course people tend to say we're creators or creative, but I am an employee at Square Enix and I receive money to make games. I think my primary purpose is to make games so that we are delivering it to gamers out there, fans, players who want to consume our product. I think that is fundamental, or a minimum requirement that I have because I belong at this company.”

Yoshida also stressed that for him, feeling bored or dismissing a long-term project isn’t an option when working in a corporate environment. In his words:

“Working in a company and feeling bored with a particular project and starting to claim 'well, I don't like this game, I'm bored with this game,' then I think people like that would need to remove themselves from a corporate environment if they want to pursue that style. But I don't have that strong personal desire to go into my own creative things.”

Despite running the game for over a decade, Yoshida revealed that he still has a long list of ideas that he wants to bring into Final Fantasy XIV:

“When asked do I ever get bored with Final Fantasy XIV, I don't think so, because there are a lot of things that I have yet to actualize in XIV, things I want to do, things I must do, things that require to be taken care of. And so, I think for at least a good while, I should be okay.”

His words reassure fans that the game will continue to evolve under his guidance, with new content and updates planned well into the future.

While Yoshida remains deeply committed, he did admit there’s one aspect of his role he’d happily reduce: administrative work.

“I would rather not do a lot of management or operational things. I already do a lot of game developing and I've sacrificed some sleep sometimes, but perhaps if I were to have a choice, I would like to focus in on the game development design.”

This statement highlights his passion for hands-on design and creativity, even after years of balancing management responsibilities with development duties.

Yoshida’s comments underline his consistent philosophy: change for the sake of change isn’t necessary. As long as he still has fresh ideas to implement and fans continue to enjoy the game, he sees no reason to step aside. For the millions of players who log into Eorzea, this is reassuring news that the guiding hand behind FFXIV will remain steady for years to come.

You can watch the full interview with Yoshida on Noisy Pixel’s YouTube channel.

What do you think - should Yoshida eventually pass the torch to a new director, or do you prefer him to keep steering Final Fantasy XIV as long as he feels inspired?