FF16 Director Naoki Yoshida Says Franchise ‘Is Struggling’
Final Fantasy 16 devs have currently spoken up about the current status of the franchise. The gaming community knows the series as one of the most iconic ones in video game history. However, Director Naoki Yoshida has a few unfortunate things to say about it.
“In terms of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling,” Yoshida said. “My current impression is that all we can do is create multiple games and continue creating the best that we can at any given time.”
Final Fantasy 16 fans believe that Yoshida is referring to some trends that have somehow taken a hold of the gaming industry. In February, he confirmed to everyone that they are not incorporating NFTs and play-to-earn cryptocurrency mechanics into the franchise. This is despite the fact that the industry has a growing interest in both.
“We are now at a point where we receive a wide variety of requests regarding the direction of our game design,” he added. “To be honest, it would be impossible to satisfy all those requests with a single title.”
Moreover, fans of the game are also loving how it offers a free trial up through its Heavensward expansion. However, it is still not completely a free-to-play live service game unlike some of its bigger competitors such as Genshin Impact and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Infinity. With that said, the franchise’s next installment, Final Fantasy 16, will not be completely free-to-play, either.
Much to the fans’ initial dismay, Final Fantasy 16 will also not be open world. However, the good news is that it will reportedly include some genre-bending battles between its iconic summons. This will be a first for the series.
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