Director and producer Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi P) sat down recently to assure fans of Final Fantasy XIV that they have no intentions of bringing NFTs (non-fungible tokens) into the game. Yoshi P addressed this issue through Square Enix translator Aimi Tokutake during a pre-broadcast interview prior to the 68th Live Letter from the Producer. NFTs have been a controversial subject in gaming, and fans can rest easy knowing Yoshi P is here to save the day.
Based on how Final Fantasy XIV is designed, Yoshida bluntly stated that they don’t intend on incorporating any sort of NFT element in the game at this point. He further clarified that players shouldn’t be worried about it as they do not have any intentions to incorporate that into the game in the future.
This direction seems to go against an earlier New Year’s statement by Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda, where he claimed the growth of NFTs will inform Square Enix’s own business practices. Many fans are adamantly opposed to the idea, and it is nice to finally get clarification for the popular MMO.
Yoshida does believe that NFTs are an interesting new business model, but games would need a specific design to utilize them, and this is not something that Final Fantasy XIV is made to accommodate.
