Dontrell ‘Launch level after 10 years’

It’s a June Friday evening in Tokyo, and Naoki Yoshida has plans for the weekend.

“Take it easy, take it easy.”

You will believe that a little normal, it is possible. However, Ultimate Myth 14 (FF14) director Yoshida-san knows that this will definitely be his last chance to live in idleness for a generation.

It’s life as he talks to BBC Newsbeat on DownTrail, an unedited expansion of the massively multiplayer on-line role-playing game (MMORPG).

According to author Squire, after a “disastrous” setup in 2010, FF14 has become the most successful title in the franchise’s history. Enix.

The game became problematic to such an extent that when the pre-expansion, Endwalker, was announced in December 2021, servers struggled to meet demand.

This hasn’t been the only option since FF14 first came out. Business, and Japan’s playing field within it, has changed over the past decade.

The ultimate myth is a big cultural export for the rustic and the class. Enix has stated that it wants to focus more on the “global market” and its fans.

There’s evidence of such in Dontrell, which marks a crucial time for Yoshida-san and his workforce, and what he calls “the starting point for the next 10 years of Final Fantasy 14.”

Endwalker equally introduced a decade-old story and Dontrell opened up an untapped saga. It also provides a graphical overhaul to the game with unused personality categories and alternative options.

It’s billed as a “summer vacation” dynamic playground set within FF14’s global glittering, Latin American-inspired Tural Pocket.

Yoshida-san says that Ultimate Myth games have taken inspiration from Europe and East Asia in the past and that his team wanted something more fighting.

He says Central and South America offer a “vast region” with “a lot of history” to draw on.

Authentic depictions of alternative cultures are one thing, class. Enix has been criticized in this regard, and its latest video games have made efforts to handle it.

Yoshida-san says that he always considered FF14 to be a “global game”, although he also opines that the influence of social media has increased and “it has become easier for people to gather together and raise their voices”. .

He acknowledges that there are “risks involved” in portraying alternative cultures, although his workforce has made it up to some extent by “learning about the culture, reading the texts that are available”.

“The world is diverse,” he says.

“There are people who have many different values, many different religions, many different feelings of relationships.

“And so it’s really impressive, I believe, that we understand those issues.”

The Final Fantasy games have always blended Japanese sensibilities with Western influences, but some have suggested that the series has recently suffered an identity crisis.

Yoshida-san told Newsbeat Square Enix makes “50% to 80%” of its profits from “fanatics outside the country”, which are “really impressive to consider after developing the game”.

But he believes a balance must be found.

“We were born in Japan, we were raised in Japan. So we were raised in Japan,” he says.

“So if we overfocus ourselves on audiences outside the country, we don’t have that background and that context.

“If we focus so much on foreign audiences, nothing we create will be successful.”

On the other hand, Yoshida-san says that builders cannot live in a bubble.

“I think it is very important for us to know the world in order to further our development,” he says.

Another important alternative to Ultimate Myth has recently arrived.

Social class. Enix produces video games for many platforms, but some titles have a history of being unique merchandise only to appear on certain consoles.

Gross sales of 2 new PlayStation 5-only video games, Ultimate Myth 16 (FF16) and Ultimate Myth 7: Rebirth, have reportedly disappointed in Japan.

CEO Takashi Kiryu after his departure Buyers advised The company will “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy” to bring its video games to additional machines.

As is usual with Yoshida-san arguments about exclusivity, this time the long-awaited Xbox model of FF14 has been spared.

This is indicative of a broader change in the industry, where companies are becoming less selective about where their games will appear.

In Japan, statistics show that avid gamers are choosing to play games on mobile or Nintendo Transfer – which has recently Becomes Rustik’s bestselling console of all time,

“We want players to be able to enjoy the game regardless of what device they are playing on,” says Yoshida-san.

“We want them to play our game and all connect and connect and then play together in the same world.”

Yoshida-san says that Xbox CEO Phil Spencer “dedicated a lot of his time” to bringing FF14 directly to Xbox.

“Thanks to their hard work, I’m so glad we were able to see it come to fruition,” he says.

“But certainly, there are platforms that remain.”

When asked who they might be, Yoshida-san doesn’t hesitate.

“Of course,” he says. “It goes without saying that this will be Nintendo’s platform.

“I’m sure people are waiting for that question to be addressed.”

Despite this, Yoshida-san says there may be something impressive to keep in mind.

“The players who stayed with us,[who]believed in the Final Fantasy 14 team.

“They really served as a supply of inspiration,” he says.

“They really pushed us to get to where we are and without them we wouldn’t be here.

“So with them in mind, we really want to do our best for the Final Fantasy 14 community.”

Focus Newsbeat are living At 12:45 and 17:45 on weekdays – or refocus right here,