Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida, producer and game director of Final Fantasy XIV, assured fans that he is not losing interest in working on the game, despite having led the project for many years.
In a recent interview with Noisy Pixel, Yoshida answered the question of what helps him stay passionate about working on one game for so long.
I'm more of a businessman making games. I'm an employee of Square Enix, and I get paid to make games. My main goal is to release a product for players and fans who want to consume it. This is the minimum requirement for me as a company employee.
Yoshida emphasized that feeling bored or tired of the project is unacceptable in a corporate environment.
If someone says, "I'm tired of this game, I'm bored," such people may want to leave the company to follow their creative desires. I don't have a strong desire to do something exclusively my own. I'm not bored because there are many noteworthy things and ideas that I would like to implement in XIV. I think I have enough tasks for the near future.
The only thing Yoshida would like to change in his role is to get rid of administrative duties in order to focus exclusively on development.
I would prefer not to be involved in management and operations. I already dedicate a lot of time to development, sometimes sacrificing sleep, but if I had a choice, I would focus only on game design.