Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida teases the next expansion while saluting frontline health workers

The new year is here, and Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida has greetings for the playerbase as he always does. Yoshida notes the sheer difficulty and challenge faced by the FFXIV team through 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic while also praising the team for pulling through, noting that there’s still no shortage of life in the game and that more is planned for this year and beyond as the game hits 11 years of operation. He also teased the next expansion set to be revealed in February, with the traditional bit of yearly prophetic verse:

Our progeny may never know
Wherefore we look unto the sky,
Nor why we dig for truths below;
We bear their scorn or watch them die

Yoshida also took time to note the team’s appreciation for the frontline health workers dealing with the virus and the unprecedented public health demand, noting how many times he had seen messages from workers playing the game that FFXIV provided a daily dose of respite and calm in their lives. This, he says, is one of the main goals of the team, to continue providing a comfortable and fun place for everyone to enjoy no matter what. It’s a nice sentiment as players look forward to February for the next portion of the game’s ongoing story.