Naoki Yoshida

Naoki Yoshida
Yoshida at the Japan Expo in Paris (2013)
Born 吉田 直樹
(1973-05-01) 1 May 1973
Nationality Japanese
Other names Yoshi-P
Occupation Video game producer and director
Employer Square Enix

Naoki Yoshida (吉田 直樹 Yoshida Naoki, born May 1, 1973),[1] also known by the nickname Yoshi-P,[2] is a Japanese video game producer, director and designer working for Square Enix. He is known primarily for his work on massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), as chief planner on Dragon Quest X, and as director and producer of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. He is credited with rescuing the original Final Fantasy XIV project from its disastrous launch.

Early career

Yoshida joined the video game industry in 1993 and started his career at Hudson Soft, where he was assigned to the creation of PC Engine games at first.[3] Later, he participated as scenario writer in the Far East of Eden series and as game designer in the Bomberman series.[4] After he left Hudson Soft, he worked at several smaller game studios for five years.[3]

Career at Square Enix

Yoshida eventually joined Square Enix in 2004 and became the head of the Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road series as well as a game designer of Dragon Quest X in its early stages.[3][4] In December 2010, he was taken off the Dragon Quest team and placed in charge of the staff that developed the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Final Fantasy XIV, which had been unsuccessful since its launch several months before.[2][5] Then company president Yoichi Wada attributed this decision to Yoshida's experience, "charismatic" leadership skills and "passionate" will to satisfy customers.[5] Yoshida was not acquainted with any of the Final Fantasy XIV team's members and thus had to demonstrate his dedication to the project first to gain their trust as director. He then talked with the individual developers to find out their ideas for improvements to the revised version known as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. He proceeded with describing to the team the precise goals to achieve.[2] Yoshida drew some inspiration from his long-lasting enthusiasm for MMORPGs, having played such titles as Ultima Online, EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Rift, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2.[3][6] As a result of his direction, reviewers and commentators have credited Yoshida with "rescuing" the Final Fantasy XIV project.[7][8][9][10]

Works

Year Title Platform Credit(s)
1998 Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth Nintendo 64 Special thanks
1999 Bomberman 64: The Second Attack Nintendo 64 Story mode director
2007 Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Arcade Director
2007 Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors Wii Special thanks
2008 Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road II Legend Arcade Director
2010 Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Victory Wii Director
2012 Dragon Quest X Wii, Wii U Planner chief
2013 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 Producer, director
2015 Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 Producer, director

References

  1. ↑ "「FFXIV: 新生エオルゼア」プロデューサーレターLIVEレポート". Game Watch. 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  2. 1 2 3 Vreeland, Michael (2012-06-04). "FFXIV Interview: Phoenix Down For a Fallen MMO". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Donaldson, Alex (2011-11-01). "Final Fantasy XIV Interview with Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida - Round 2". RPG Site. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  4. 1 2 "『ファイナルファンタジーXIV』新プロデューサー兼ディレクターに直撃インタビュー". Famitsu. 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  5. 1 2 Wada, Yoichi; Yoshida, Naoki; Tanaka, Hiromichi (2012-12-10). "An Important Announcement for Final Fantasy XIV Fans". Square-Enix. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  6. ↑ Lefebvre, Eliot (2013-02-13). "Massively Exclusive: A dinner with Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida". Joystiq. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  7. ↑ Nutt, Christian (2011-04-01). "Fixing Final Fantasy XIV: The Yoshida Interview". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  8. ↑ Nutt, Christian (2014-04-18). "Understanding the successful relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  9. ↑ Lin, Joseph C. (2015-04-14). "Meet the Guy Who Saved Final Fantasy XIV from Total Disaster". Time. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  10. ↑ Parkin, Simon (2014-04-18). "Meet the man who salvaged Final Fantasy 14 from ruin". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
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