Building Final Fantasy XVI with Producer Naoki Yoshida | AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook Podcast

Shuhei Yoshida chats with FINAL FANTASY XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida. Together they discuss his career and what led to him helping relaunch FINAL FANTASY XIV and eventually producing the newest entry in the series; the key decisions they made with FINAL FANTASY XVI with their approach to story and gameplay; how they navigated the pandemic and how it impacted development; and his thoughts on what young game developers looking to break into the industry can do to prepare themselves. 0:00 Introduction 2:27 Interview Start 4:32 Yoshida-san’s Early Career and Rebuilding FFXIV 12:09 Starting work on FINAL FANTASY XVI 19:35 Taking the Necessary Time to Develop FFXVI 21:14 Building the Story and World of FFXVI 29:14 Matching Game Design Decisions to Story and Concept 35:34 Eikon Battles and FINAL FANTASY Summons 38:47 Biggest Production Challenges 43:21 Developing for the PlayStation 5 46:53 Pandemic’s Impact on Development 56:13 Promotional Strategies for FFXVI 1:01:1