FFXI Director Says Game Won’t Be Shutting Down Anytime Soon

Final Fantasy XI is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. While rumors have circulated about the MMORPG’s future, director Yoji Fujito revealed that FFXI won’t be shutting down “anytime soon.” Additionally, the director talked about the upcoming Prime Weapon, and the article includes various interviews with past and current staff. [Thanks, ryokutya!]

The interview comes from this week’s issue of Famitsu, releasing on May 19, 2022. The issue’s main cover celebrates the MMORPG’s 20th anniversary, and the special feature includes interviews with the current director and producer, as well as past collaborators like Hiromichi Tanaka. The special feature also provides a timeline starting from the game’s launch and talks briefly about FFXI‘s future.

Notably, Fujito reportedly addresses concerns that the game may shut down sometime in 2022. “Due to past comments, there may be some people who are worried that the game will be shutting down in 2022,” Fujito stated, “but I don’t think you will have to be concerned about that happening anytime soon.” Similarly, producer Akihiko Matsui mentioned that all of the higher-ups at the company are telling the team to “continue doing FFXI.”

On the topic of the upcoming Prime Weapons, Fujito revealed that users will be able to obtain them. Specifically, players will be able to obtain the weapons through the progression of the story. However, it’s still unclear when the developers plan to add the Prime Weapons.

FFXI is available to play on PC. A Final Fantasy XI crossover event is also currently taking place in Granblue Fantasy.