Final Fantasy XI Producer Talks About the Future of the Game

Final Fantasy XI Producer Yoji Fujito recently talked to Famitsu about becoming the producer of the game, as well as continuing his position as director, his vision for Vana’diel in 2023, and the new dynamic of the FFXI team going forward. Fujito said that his newfound role as both director and producer is not going to change the dynamic or his workload. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Here is a direct quote by Fujito about his role as director and producer of Final Fantasy XI:

“What I do is almost the same as before. (…) Preparation and negotiations have always been carried out as a team, so the only change is that the person in charge of taking responsibility if something happens (as producer) is now the same person as the director.”

Fujito also shared that the team received a lot of motivation after the Final Fantasy XI 20th anniversary, and the Granblue Fantasy collaboration. Some plans for the future of Vana’diel include revitalizing the game by focusing on more type of seasonal events, developing new content for Records of Eminence and Ambuscade battles, and allowing the game to be supported by many PC environments.

Fujito also talked about the particularities that the team behind Final Fantasy XI experience in regard to their career path. Most of the current FFXI team has been working on the game for most of their career, so the motivation behind seeing your work translate into a new product being launched, and working with new technology is something that the team is missing out on. In addition, the technology used in FFXI has been outdated for a long time.

As a result, as produced Fujito plans on a smaller number of workers focusing exclusively on Final Fantasy XI, and would like for some of the team members to work concurrently in other departments within Square Enix. This would be enriching to them, the company, and their continued work on FFXI in return.

On March 22, 2023, the company announced that Final Fantasy XI producer Akihiko Matsui would be stepping down, and Fujito would assume the role of producer while continuing to serve as director.

Final Fantasy XI is readily available on Windows PC. The PS2 and Xbox 360 versions of the game are no longer supported.