Final Fantasy XIV Director Doesn’t Believe Metaverse Is Entertainment

Square Enix's Naoki Yoshida, known as a director and producer of MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV and a producer of the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI, has recently shared his attitude to the concept of the metaverse saying that he doesn't see it as "entertainment" and doesn't think that its concept is similar to MMOs like his own Final Fantasy XIV.

Although Square Enix previously expressed its interest in technologies like the metaverse, blockchain, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), speaking with the Japanese outlet Weekly Bunshun, Yoshida admitted that he is not interested in the metaverse. When asked about his thoughts on the popularity of the metaverse idea, the producer stated that he "doesn't really think" about the metaverse at all.

He then added that, in his opinion, the metaverse is not entertainment but "a system that replaces reality with a virtual world" (translated by SiliconEra), and noted that for this reason, it is not close to games like Final Fantasy XIV.

"In the Metaverse I’m thinking of, people will be able to use an avatar in virtual reality, and take a stroll in Shinjuku or do shopping, just like in real life. Though it might be fun, there’s no entertainment there. 'What’s so interesting about the systems of our real world?' is how I feel," Yoshida said.

He also stated that if he had to work on a certain universe, then he would like to do something really fun and entertaining within the virtual reality, but not create the metaverse itself, but he has no such plans yet.

You can find the original interview with Naoki Yoshida here. Also, don't forget to join our new Reddit page, our new Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we are sharing breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.