Final Fantasy XI will continue, with a blessing from the higher-ups

destructoid.com:

Final Fantasy XI will continue, with the direct blessing of “higher-ups” at Square Enix, director Yoji Fujito revealed [via Siliconera] in a new Famitsu interview.

Addressing rumors that the game would shut down as early as this year, a brand new May 19 interview in the magazine confirms otherwise. The game’s director Yoji Fujito notes that people shouldn’t be worried about that happening “anytime soon,” and that “higher-ups” are informing Fujito and his team to “continue on” with the game.

It’s good news for fans to get short-term confirmation, but it also seems like the game isn’t even on the chopping block at this time. So just how long will it go on? Well, only Square Enix management can say. But even if it ended next week, 20 years is quite the run!

At the moment, the two MMOs seem like an important part of Square Enix’s portfolio. While Final Fantasy XIV is obviously more successful, the publisher sees value in their internal IP, and generally treats the Final Fantasy series with reverence (barring some port job quality control), and plays the long game. If something hasn’t been re-released or remastered in a while, they’ll make you remember it — or promote it in some way.