Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi “got addicted” to Final Fantasy XIV

gamepur.com:

Final Fantasy XIV is a massive hit — that’s not news. Square Enix nearly gave it sole credit for the company’s 2021 success, and any game that needs to suspend sales because too many people are trying to play it is in a great position. Money talks, but what does Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi have to say about the MMO?

According to a new interview with IGN, he loves it as much as any other Final Fantasy XIV player. In fact, he was scared to jump in because of a longtime passion for MMOs. “Just like I feared, I got addicted to [Final Fantasy XIV] once I started,” he said. Sakaguchi plays a Death Knight (pictured at the top of this article), which means he can enjoy the newly improved Living Dead ability.

With more than 1,000 hours racked up in the game, Sakaguchi is clearly a fan, and the MMO’s developers are fans of him as well. When the game was being rebooted as A Realm Reborn, director Naoki Yoshida approached Sakaguchi for his blessing. “[It] belongs to you,” Sakaguchi obliged. “I don’t intend on meddling in any way.” That hands-off strategy seems to have paid off quite well for the MMO, given all of its success.

Most recently, Final Fantasy XIV got its 6.1 update, titled Newfound Adventure. This is the first major update since last year’s Endwalker expansion, and it makes the game’s storyline playable in single-player.