Final Fantasy creator says his Final Fantasy 14 habit got so bad "on rare occasion" that some of his employees would hop on the MMO to DM him about missed meetings

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Hironobu Sakaguchi is truly dedicated to the grind

Final Fantasy's Sakaguchi takes the stage at Final Fantasy Fan Fest
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Hironobu Sakaguchi's love of the critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy 14 continues to be endlessly endearing, though it would appear that the other developers at his current studio might feel differently on the odd occasion.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Sakaguchi admits he was playing the MMO's new expansion, Dawntrail, mere minutes before the interview. It's hardly the first time Final Fantasy 14 and work have come into close proximity either, as some Mistwalker developers know all too well.

“On a rare occasion — I want to stress ‘rare occasion’ — sometimes one of the Mistwalker team members will hop on Final Fantasy 14, and I’ll see a message saying, ‘Hey, the meeting’s started,’” Sakaguchi says.

It's not the first time Sakaguchi has mentioned getting a scolding for playing Final Fantasy 14, either. The industry veteran has previously said he sometimes plays the MMO for up to 12 hours a day - be it running a fashion label or just posing with fans in a costume he made director and producer Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida add. If you're wondering how he manages that and a full working day, it would appear he doesn't, as Sakaguchi says developers have scolded him for playing too much - I just didn't think the telling-off happened in-game. 

Elsewhere in the interview, Sakaguchi touches on teaming up with Square Enix for the first time in over 20 years to free JRPG gem Fantasian from Apple Arcade jail. It was all set in motion over dinner with Yoshi-P. Despite the reunion and love of Final Fantasy 14, though, don't expect Sakaguchi to lead another Final Fantasy game anytime soon, as he's “switched to a consumer rather than a creator.”

“If I take on the Final Fantasy brand again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to genuinely enjoy Final Fantasy 14 as much,” he says.

Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail gets Stormblood comparisons after a "mixed" start on Steam, as players hope the MMO's new post-launch content can also bring it home.

Iain Harris
Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.