Final Fantasy 14 and ray-tracing aren't a great match, director admits
Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of Final Fantasy 14, has said not to expect ray-tracing to be added to the popular MMORPG anytime soon, and perhaps not even as part of the graphical upgrade that's coming to the game in the next couple of years.
In an exclusive comment to TechRadar, Yoshida explained that ray-tracing isn't a priority for the development team right now, owing to the notion that the advanced lighting tech may not be a good fit for Final Fantasy 14 in general.
«At this point in time, I haven’t placed so much importance on ray-tracing,» says Yoshida. «This is because the PC systems that can render graphics with it are limited, and it would not be very effective in FFXIV, where there’s not a strong impression related to visuals of machines in the game.»
Yoshida isn't wrong. While Final Fantasy 14 does feature more science fiction elements and settings, such as the Magitek steel of the Garlean Empire and Allagan institutions like the Aetherochemical Research Facility, such locales are few and far between compared to the more fantastical settings one would often associate with the series.
That's not to say graphical enhancements aren't coming to Final Fantasy 14 at all, though, as the game is set to receive an update in this regard alongside the launch of the next expansion which, given the current rate of major patch updates, is speculated to launch sometime in 2024. Yoshida supports this announcement (made at a recent Letter from the Producer Live presentation) by stating:
«However, as we recently announced (in Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVIII), we will increase the power of our graphics engine as we look ahead to FFXIV’s future expansion. We will seek to add new ways of expressing graphics as we go
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