FFXI Staff and Players Worked on FFXIV Echoes of Vana’diel

In an interview with Game Watch about Final Fantasy XIV Version 7.1, Naoki Yoshida mentioned that the staff who worked on FFXIV Echoes of Vana’diel also played FFXI back when that was the main MMO of the franchise. The interview also gave some information on the collaboration event between FFXIV and FFXI. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

While discussing how the newest FFXIV patch hooks in players by introducing characters and worlds that were in FFXI, Yoshida mentions that several staff members for FFXIV are former FFXI players. They were so into the game that they forgot to eat and sleep, and Yoshida even jokes that they were about to toss away their future to play the game. It’s unknown if Yoshida is referencing the poopsocking phenomenon with this comment, or if it simply means they were too focused on the game to study or work. However, the passion that those players had for MMORPG and games translated into them becoming game developers later in life.

Not all of the staff working on FFXIV are people who played FFXI before entering the industry. Some members of the FFXI development staff are also working on the Echoes of Vana’diel series. Part of their duties is offering feedback on equipment designs for different roles and rewards.

Before the interview started discussing staff overlaps, Game Watch asked about how Iroha previously appeared in the Maiden’s Rhapsody event, and wondered if that event had any connection to Echoes of Vana’diel. Yoshida replied that it doesn’t, since it would make the story more complicated and affect FFXI as well. If that happens, then FFXI players might get annoyed that their game’s story changed as a result of FFXIV. So Echoes of Vana’diel is exclusive to the FFXIV world.

Final Fantasy XIV is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC.