Final Fantasy 16 – Naoki Yoshida Not Directing, Still in Charge of Final Fantasy 14

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 14 has been a monumental success for the company with over 18 million players. However, for many fans of the franchise, the question is when Final Fantasy 16 will release. Rumors have also been doing the rounds about the MMO’s director/producer Naoki Yoshida serving as director for the project.

According to LiveDoor, Yoshida denied that being the case. He also revealed that he’s still the director on Final Fantasy 14 for a few more years. There some annoyance from him over the rumors, but given Yoshida’s connection to the MMO, which he helped revive from the brink with the development team, it’s somewhat understandable.

It’s possible that these rumors first started when a recruitment page for Square Enix BD5, which was renamed to the 3rd Development Division, was doing the rounds. Yoshida is the general manager of this team and said to be working on a “large-scale HD title” for next-generation consoles. At the time, the studio was “shifting to a full-scale large-scale development phase.”

Of course, Final Fantasy 16 could still be in the works and involve the 3rd Development Division even if Yoshida isn’t the director. We’ll have to wait for more information in the meantime.