Final Fantasy 14’sproducer Naoki Yoshida had a live letter this week to share more about the upcoming expansion Endwalker. Before sharing more about what was to come, though, Yoshida had disappointing news.The Endwalkerexpansion is being delayedtwo weeks later than previously announced. What was set to come out on November 23 would now be coming on December 2.
Yoshida carried himself with an aura of sadness, even seeming to tear up as he told the live audience this news. He was incredibly apologetic, addressing that he knows players have taken time off work, and have been marking the date on their calendars for the release. He even mentioned that the two weeks delay is selfish on his part because he wants to make the game he has worked on as good as possible. However, rather than being met with a mob of angry gamers, the producer was warmly comforted by theFinal Fantasy 14community.
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Fan Reactions To The Endwalker Delay
After Yoshida shared the news about the delay, fans were quick to ask him if the developers and team were getting enough time off and taking care of themselves outside of making the game. The producer responded to those questions with gratefulness and said that they are taking care of themselves and their employees to verify they do get time off. This question from players was grounded by the reality that many companies and game developers overwork themselves with crunch time to make sure a game gets out by a certain point. However, the two-week delay is a good sign thatSquare Enixis not pushing itself to the brink just to get the game out on time.
Outside of these concerned questions from the fans, many chatrooms were filled with the words “A smile better suits a producer,” which is a famous line in the game (though the original line has “hero” instead of “producer”). Others begged Yoshida not to cry and added that they support his decision. After the live letter, fans sang praises toYoshida’s methods, since he shared the delay news on a livestream to thousands of people instead of just making a faceless post.
The Trust Between Fans And Producer
How this positive fan reaction came about in response to negative news is due to a long history of trust and transparency between the players and theFinal Fantasy 14development team. Many fans do not just loveFinal Fantasy 14, as they have gotten to love Yoshida and the team behind it as well because the story behind the game is nearly as interesting as the game itself.The originalFinal Fantasy 14was a rock-bottom gamewith tons of negative reviews. When Yoshida took over, he managed to save the MMO and did not keep it secret to how much hard work he and his team actually put into that success.
Yoshida’s on-camera persona is very genuine and respectful, and fans have actually seen him cry a lot. He cried whenA Realm Rebornwas finished and he got on a stage to speak about it. When he shared the news about the composer, Masayoshi Soken, battling cancer, he cried. He is a very emotional producer, and fans tend to cry with him instead of just watching. There is a very strong trust between the players and developers that just is not there for many other game studios.
It is due to this unusual strong bond that fans have reacted so positively tothe Endwalker expansion’sdelay. On Twitter, fans have basically said “If Yoshida says the game needs two more weeks, then the game needs two more weeks.” They believe in him and his work, and a simple delay is not changing that anytime soon.
Final Fantasy 14is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, and PS5.
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