Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida, known to fans as Yoshi-P, has admitted that long development cycles right across the Final Fantasy series make it “harder” for new players or younger generations “to engage with” the franchise.
Reflecting on the issue in a video interview promoting spinoff Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy, Yoshida discussed how young people might have struggled to “connect” with the Final Fantasy franchise simply because it takes so long to release mainline entries.
“I’m 53 now, and I’ve been playing since Final Fantasy 1 in real time… But for younger generations — people who grew up naturally accustomed to action-based combat and online competitive play — the recent entries in the series may have been harder to engage with,” Yoshi-P said.
“Part of that is simply because I’m sorry to say… the release intervals for new titles have gotten longer, so some players haven’t really had the chance to connect with the series the way older fans did.”
