![]() Players want to keep exploring Vana'diel it speaks to them in some way that modern MMOs like Final Fantasy 14 or Destiny 2 do not. | Square Enix Still Playing Togetherįinal Fantasy 11 continues to be played, day in, day out, 18 years later. That doesn't mean there aren't things that have changed over the years that I'd like to challenge myself-modern UIs, modern advancement speeds, modern monetization methods-but I think these are things best handled by other games." The team's all here. "That isn't to say that technology hasn't affected how people enjoy games, but the concept of a given game has a lot of factors that aren't particularly impacted by the latest technological advances. "I come from game designer roots and believe that the advancement of technology has not had a major effect on game design principles," says Matsui. And Matsui appreciates the older feel of Final Fantasy 11. Certain practices required to work on such an old game are still useful today, including memory usage conservation, model and texture handling, and server-client communications. Skillsets and knowledge that were once commonplace are becoming increasingly rare."ĭespite that, both believe that working on Final Fantasy 11 does impact modern Square Enix titles. The cost of passing the torch only increases with time. "By the same vein, Final Fantasy 11 devs who are steeped in knowledge of older techniques and development norms lose opportunities to work with newer technologies. "There aren't many people left internally who have the skills and knowledge to work in our development environment," admits Fujito. He also notes a problem with development personnel: who wants to continue working on FF11 when name and prestige can be found on newer Square Enix titles? Both developers point to user interface problems that are difficult to fix, and Fujito says they face "huge hurdles" creating any new maps. It's running on very old technology at this point, with Matsui and Fujito both acknowledging some development issues they've had. "However, this is an issue which we are close to solving through these plans." Working on Old Techįinal Fantasy 11 was originally developed for PC and PlayStation 2, thought it did come to Xbox 360 in 2006. "Our one-year plans used to terminate at the end of the fiscal year (April 1), meaning that we had to go into the May 16 anniversaries a bit flatfooted, so to speak," Matsui tells USG. Being funded until the 20th anniversary means the team can switch to "a more clear-cut medium-term plan." The change in funding also means that Square Enix can prepare for the 19th anniversary event, something that wasn't possible before. The reason for this is that we do not have the bandwidth to set up the massive environment required to create new areas, character models, textures, and animations," says Fujito.įujito reiterates that the team previously had to deal with single year budgets and development plans before now. ![]() "Unfortunately, there is no possibility of a new expansion. An HD remaster for modern platforms, or maybe a proper new expansion? When USgamer spoke to Final Fantasy 11 director Yoji Fujito about the MMO's present and future, he shot down the latter idea. | Square Enixįans have speculated on what the new additional funding could lead to. Final Fantasy 11 is still out here, truckin' on. At the time, Matsui said that his developers had to work with budgets being evaluated on an annual basis, but they were lucky enough to achieve the funding to make some improvements and keep Final Fantasy 11 running. Early last year, Final Fantasy 11 producer Akihiko Matsui confirmed that the team had achieved funding to get the MMO to its 20th anniversary in 2022. In February, the team added the Siren avatar quest and promised another new story scenario soon.įans have wondered how long Final Fantasy 11 will continue to run. Since then, players of Final Fantasy 11 have been treated to small tweaks and seasonal events, maintaining the living world of Vana'diel, but not massively expanding it. Its last full expansion was Seekers of Adoulin in 2013, with the last major content update happening in 2015. And yet, Final Fantasy 11 continues to live in the shadow of its younger sibling, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn.įrom its Japanese debut in 2002, Final Fantasy 11 saw the release of five expansions and countless updates. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.įinal Fantasy 11 is one of the survivors of the early 2000s MMO gold rush, a list that includes World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and Lineage 2. This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247.
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