Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
FFXIV: Realm Reborn Director Blames Troublesome Initial Launch On Franchise Success, Graphical Focus
Today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn producer and director Naoki Yoshida shared some insight into why Final Fantasy XIV's original launch was such a failure.
Yoshida noted how much success Square Enix had from Final Fantasy XI, making Square Enix a great proft. But according to Yoshida, great success can breed greater failure. The studio succumbed to the pressure and stubbornly adhered to outdated policies.
Yoshida also discussed how when FFXI launched in 2002, it was still in MMORPGs' early days, but eight years passed before Final Fantasy XIV, and much had changed. Unfortunately, Square Enix wasn’t up with the times, and instead felt that focusing on graphics was the best way to make a mark in the new MMO landscape. Square spent so much time on graphics that it overlooked the player’s experience. For instance, Square put around 1K polygons and used 150 lines of shader code on a single flower pot. To put that in perspective, that’s the same process load of one playable character. Yoshida noted the perfectionism and fixation on small elements were problematic; developers’ time could have been better spent elsewhere.
He's proud of how A Realm Reborn was able to take a step back and fix these issues and persevered to provide a higher quality experience.
Have you played A Realm Reborn? If so, what did you think of it?
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
