Kevin Dercole August 15th, 2023 - 3:09 PM
Naoki Yoshida wishes everyone would play games and be unified on one console. This comes from an IGN article, which was first spotted on ResetEra by Truno, when Yoshida appeared on a Taiwanese Youtube channel, sharing his thoughts on the entire console debate between PlayStation and Xbox.
Final Fantasy 16 producer and 14 director Naoki Yoshida wishes everyone played games on the same console. https://t.co/WOEl66gIFb pic.twitter.com/oeIQexn6gP
— IGN (@IGN) August 15, 2023
Yoshida’s thoughts were translated by IGN, with Yoshida saying, “Game platforms… I probably shouldn’t say this, but I wish there was only one. It would be better for both the developers and the players.” As IGN mentions in their article, these comments are interesting to say the least, since Yoshida’s latest big project, Final Fantasy 16 has a six-month exclusivity deal with PlayStation, with a PC port coming soon.
His other project, Final Fantasy 14 was only on PC and PlayStation for almost 10 years until very recently, the MMORPG was going to be released for the Xbox Series in 2024.
Yoshida even mentions the six-month exclusivity deal in a PlayStation JP blog post, (translation from VGC) confirming the deal by saying, “…it is true that Final Fantasy 16 is a six-month limited time exclusive on the PS5 platform.” He also mentions the PC port saying that it won’t be released in half a year. The director hasn’t always expressed this though. IGN points out that the time Yoshida denied the existence of a PC version in a tweet, prior to the release of Final Fantasy 16 saying that, “Why is it like a PC version is releasing six months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5.”
In light to Yoshida’s statement that there should only be one console, his statement received some pushback from social media users in the comments on IGN and VGC, with many pointing out that by only having one console limits the consumer’s choice. Others mention the inevitable console monopoly that this would create.
Although it would be nice to have one platform, and it would be easier for developers, consumer choice goes right out the window.
