‘Final Fantasy’ Is ‘Struggling,’ Director Naoki Yoshida Acknowledges

Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida was bluntly honest about where he believes the franchise stands in the ever-changing gaming industry.

“In terms of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling,” Yoshida told Inverse.

“We’re now at a point where we receive a wide variety of requests regarding the direction of our game design,” he said. “To be honest, it’d be impossible to satisfy all those requests with a single title. My current impression is that all we can really do is create multiple games, and continue creating the best that we can at any given time.”

Yoshida is known for taking over the Final Fantasy franchise and being responsible for its complete revitalization in popularity. Before he began on the project, the franchise was known for being generic with a lot of development issues.

The producer left it unclear where he sees Final Fantasy heading from here, though he did hint at a positive outlook for the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI, which is known to have more “mature” themes than in the past.

“I want to keep making sure that Final Fantasy XIV will be fondly remembered by many as a fun game that gave them the best gaming experience,” he noted. “I also want to make sure that it will remain in operation for decades to come.”

Final Fantasy XVI is expected to be released in Summer 2023.

Watch the game trailer below.