Another Game, Another Second Decade

Later today the Final Fantasy XIV Fanfest in Las Vegas will kick off with Yoshi-P's keynote address. During not only the North American Fanfest but also the ones in London and Tokoyo before the launch of the 7.0 expansion. During all these events I expect to hear about plans for FFXIV's second decade.

FFXIV is not the first game I will hear plans for a second decade of existence. In 2013 I attended EVE Online's Fanfest where CCP's leadership tried to lay out plans for the second decade. I was in the audience when Hilmar and his leadership team presented CCP's hopes and dreams for the next 10 years. 

Looking back, CCP had some big dreams. DUST 514 was still a year in the future and would integrate PC and console players into a single universe. PC and console players in the same game world? No way, right? Well, as long as Microsoft isn't involved.

The second decade of EVE didn't work so well. DUST 514 only lasted three years (May 2013-May 2016) and virtual reality games set in the EVE universe limped along until 2022. The game went into a modified free-to-play format that in my opinion is just a glorified free trial. And in 2018, the company was sold to South Korean video game studio Pearl Abyss. At this point, EVE sees less than half the record peak concurrent user count of 65,303 players set on the 10th anniversary every day.

Needless to say, the idea of a second decade fills me with trepidation for the future of FFXIV. MMORPGs just don't continue growing after 10 years, which FFXIV does next month. Unlike EVE, Final Fantasy XIV is a theme park game that pretty much lives and dies with the game's writing. Also, the game benefitted from Blizzard and World of Warcraft pretty much shitting its bed and freeing people to go play other games. That many players searching for a new home is a once in a generation event that Square Enix should not expect to see again for at least a decade. 

The next two days will show a window into Yoshi-P's plans for the future. Hopefully I don't get the same feeling as I left Iceland 10 years ago. At the bus station waiting for the trip to the airport, I asked some EVE players if they felt we had just been fed a load of manure. They told me yes, which confirmed I wasn't going crazy. Hopefully FFXIV players won't feel the same way after the world Fanfest tour finishes in February.