Square Enix held on February 19 theFinal Fantasy XIVLetter from the Producer Live Part LXVIII, with producer Naoki Yoshida commenting on the Metaverse and NFTs. We detailed below when the “No NFTs inFF14” discussion happened, how it started, and what YoshiP actually said.
ManyFF14fans couldn’t watch the Letter from the Producer stream live and are getting confused about what happened and what Naoki Yoshida actually said about NFTs. Moreover, even fans who did watch the stream are having trouble pinpointing when the Metaverse and NFTs discussion actually happened.
The thing is, the stream started around one hour ahead of schedule to go through audio and video tests and make sure there’s no lag between the Japan and North America Square Enix offices. That’s when the NFTs discussion happened, and why many fans missed it. And that’s not even counting how the Twitch version of the stream was cut into two parts, so those who watched the VOD on Twitch still missed those comments from YoshiP.
YoshiP reassures fans worried about NFTs, will publish a Metaverse interview soon
to test the audio delay on stream, theFFXIVstaff started a causal conversion, with Naoki Yoshida most notably sharing an anecdote regarding how he met a new recruit and their mother in front of Square Enix HQ. YoshiP also mentioned that the day before the stream, he ended up spending most of his time going through certain emails. These emails ended up related to the Metaverse and NFTs discussion.
The NFTs and Metaverse discussion started at the 22:30timestampof the YouTube stream. Yoshida explained how the Metaverse is getting popular in Japan, and how he received many interview requests to talk about it. He accepted these requests as they can always serve as a way to advertiseFFXIV. However, he’d like to ensure what he thinks of the Metaverse is conveyed without misunderstandings, and he’s allowed to review the content of all interview articles before they’re published by outlets.
YoshiP: “Metaverse and NFTs are completely different things, and we won’t include NFTs in FFXIV”
At that point, the Twitch chat of the live stream started spamming “NO NFTs”. (Starting at 38:00 on Twitchand25:12 on YouTube). So YoshiP reacted to that, telling everyone to calm down, adding that the Metaverse and NFTs are completely different things, and howFFXIVdefinitely won’t be including NFTs.
YoshiP then explained that after checking that Metaverse-related interview and adding his feedback, it turned out to be over 770 lines long. When he send it back, they told him it was too long and asked if he could narrow it down to around 330 lines. The deadline was the same day, so he ended up spending all day narrowing it down, up to 348 lines. It was finally approved after that.
Naoki Yoshida also explained how that Metaverse interview is for a business magazine, hence why it had strict characters and lines limitations. However, Yoshida added that seeing that all outlets have an online version nowadays, they might publish the full version of the interview there.
Naoki Yoshida wants to properly explain his view on NFTs outside FFXIV
Ending the discussion (starting the30:19timestamp on YouTube), YoshiP said he understands many fans, especially those outside Japan, are against NFTs, and are rightfully nervous seeingSquare Enix president’s New Years' letter. However, YoshiP stressed out that NFTs won’t bring anything worthwhile toFFXIVseeing how the game is designed, so they won’t incorporate any NFTs related elements inFF14.
However, Yoshida would like one day to have the opportunity to speak with a Western outlet in an interview unrelated toFFXIV. To explain what he thinks of NFTs outside ofFFXIV. As he does believe that as a new business model, it could be possible to make an interesting game with NFTs if said game is exclusively built around NFTs from the beginning. Lastly, Naoki Yoshida stressed out that if he ever made a game with NFTs, he’d still focus on making an interesting game, not on making money.
In summary, YoshiP confirmedFFXIVwon’t deal with NFTs. Regarding the Metaverse though, he did a pretty long interview for a Japanese business magazine, but we don’t know what he said yet. So we should wait for that interview to be published before panicking.
