Rock star developers, low poly grapes, and clip-on cat ears: Inside the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest

Punters in Las Vegas will, by and large, gamble on anything – and yet even the most reckless would have hesitated to put money on Final Fantasy XIV even surviving to its 10th anniversary, let alone being able to mark the occasion with a lavish celebration for 15,000 of its most fervent fans in the party capital of the world. 

Despite bearing the imprint of one of Japanese gaming’s most successful and beloved franchises, this MMORPG – massively multiplayer online role playing game – was a hot mess when it first launched in 2010, riddled with bugs and hamstrung by half-baked, badly-implemented game mechanics.

The original Final Fantasy XIV experience was so bad, in fact, that within three months of its September launch, the then President of publisher Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, fired creative director Nobuaki Komoto, suspended the monthly subscription payments required to access the game, and issued a formal apology to its put upon players.

Noaki Yoshida, director of rival series Dragon Quest, was drafted in to see what, if anything, could be salvaged. Over the next few years he rebuilt the game from the ground up, eventually debuting the transformational A Realm Reborn do-over in August 2013 (now considered to be the game’s official birthday). 

Over the course of five further expansions he’s managed not to just turn the ship around, but also give it new direction and purpose. MMORPG publishers are notoriously reluctant to reveal customer statistics, but the independent website MMO Populations estimates FFXIV currently has over 1.25m daily players (out of a total player base of around 44m) – nudging it slightly ahead of the waning World of Warcraft but behind genre granddaddy Runescape and the more action-oriented big budget blockbuster Diablo 4. Make no mistake, though – for a decade-old game with that history, those numbers are nothing short of remarkable.

They also go some way to explaining why Yoshida is greeted like a rock star, major royal, and messiah combined when he emerges onstage through a fug of dry ice to officially open this year’s Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest. Throughout the weekend you can always tell whenever he’s onstage, or even just flashed up on the huge video screens, by the spontaneous terrace-style chants of “Yoshi-P! Yoshi-P!” (his nickname) that ring out across the convention centre floor.

“Our intention is not to flaunt around like a rock star, our job is to make games,” Yoshida replies when asked about his reception at a press conference later that evening. “But with this being an MMORPG, and in this sort of game genre, I think it’s very important we have a mutual understanding between the players and members of the media and the developers.”

Occasionally the implied intimacy of that relationship manifests itself in unusual ways, though.

“When I went to the first North American fan event [in 2014], I was out in the casino area and somebody asked if he could pick me up, princess-style. You might be able to find that photo online actually.”

Awkward – but then again not as much as the female fan at the Japanese equivalent who inexplicably asked if she could pick him up and perform a backbreaker-style wrestling move on him. Fandom can be a curious thing for sure, and there are times when this two-day fiesta feels cult-ish. However there also seems to be a genuine, reciprocated respect at the heart of this central relationship.

“I think most gamers are very used to either being ignored or actively hated by most developers,” considers festival-goer Matt, who has added the expense of a trip from Orange County, California to the $150 ticket price. “And I think the reason why they don’t hate us is mostly because the culture here is so great. Whether it’s the chicken or the egg, [Yoshida] likes us and we like him; he’s passionate and we’re passionate.”

“When [2021’s expansion] Endwalker was coming out, it was delayed by two weeks.” adds his friend Cal. “That’s nothing, it’s inconsequential. But the fact [Yoshida] went out of his way to apologise when he really didn’t need to, goes to show how much he cares about the game itself. 

“And also he encourages an environment that’s not toxic. I still think there’s a big issue with the World of Warcraft versus Final Fantasy mentality, but one of the things he did when he was recreating [A Realm Reborn] was say, play Warcraft and learn from this. So by basically respecting everyone, he’s encouraged everyone else to respect each other.” 

This sense of respect is particularly apparent when it comes to cosplay, the art of dressing like a character from a fictional medium that has become a celebrated form of both fan appreciation and also self-expression. Cal is sporting a simple but effective set of robes that afford him the air of a benevolent monk, but elsewhere semi-professional practitioners strut their stuff in elaborate suits of armour complete with prosthetics and intricately-detailed replica swords and guns (official costume guidelines helpfully explain, “no real weapons are allowed at the event”).

One certainly has to respect the commitment of those fans who survived the journey to the convention centre wearing fur-lined capes and leather jerkins while without actually melting in the Las Vegas summer heat – 44˚and change on both days. Elsewhere a curious, Loony Toons-esque meta contest plays out among the surprisingly large volume of attendees wearing clip-on ears betraying their allegiance to different Final Fantasy races: the Viera, with their long, bunny-like appendages; the Miq’ote, who resemble cats; and the pool old Elezen, whose traditional pointy elven lobes look rather fusty in comparison.  

Perhaps the strangest costume onsite belongs to the woman wearing a cardboard box decorated with blurry pictures of fruit. It’s actually a brilliant reference to ‘low poly[gon] grapes’ – one of FFXIV’s most popular memes, commemorating the shockingly poor graphical representation of in-game food item introduced in Endwalker (but sadly since updated).

Low poly grapes feature heavily in an entertaining on-stage panel hosted by members of the game’s Community team revisiting a decade’s worth of goofs, glitches, and in-jokes, as well as achievements from the fan community. The fact they can spin a pacy hour out of the material is a reminder not just of the sheer volume of content published by the team over the years, but also how for an enormous demographic, gaming is modern culture, with a shared set of references as deep and detailed as anything to be found in more popularly accepted entertainment media.

Of course, there’s actual games to be had amid the fun and games. Yoshida’s keynote centred around a big reveal of the next expansion, Dawntrail. Due next summer, this new chapter for Final Fantasy XIV takes place in the new world of Tural, where players will hunt for a fabled City of Gold. As well as expanding the map and raising the maximum character level cap, it will also give the decade-old game a much-needed graphical glow-up. Although fans being, well, fanatics, the biggest cheers from the floor greeted the news that players would be able to colour their in-game clothes with two different dyes rather than one, and for the first time be able to wear spectacles and a hat. “I CAN TRULY BE ME” exclaimed an excited fan on Twitter. 

More surprising – and certainly more significant – was the unexpected appearance onstage of Xbox chief, Phil Spencer. For 13 years, Final Fantasy XIV had been a PlayStation console exclusive; that ends next spring. “When everybody plays, we all win,” beamed Spencer – although one wonders if his frenemies at Sony feel the same way. After having their noses blooded in the courts failing to prevent Microsoft’s acquisition of Activation, this would surely have felt like a kick in the shins for good measure. 

Still, that felt like another battle for another day. In fact, by the time the Primals – a heavy metal band formed by the game’s Sound Director, Masayoshi Soken, and fronted by fan favourite localisation supervisor Koji Fox – closed out the second day with a full-length concert performance of songs from the game, internecine console wars were the furthest thing from most attendees’ minds. This was a celebratory coming together.

“The Final Fantasy community is phenomenal,” gushed attendee Gray, who flew down from Seattle so she could spend a weekend meeting her people in person for the first time since the pandemic. “I started in World of Warcraft. The general [FFXIV] community has a very different feel to it. It’s become known as the wholesome community that it is because the vast majority of people who are part of the playerbase are so welcoming.”

If an MMORPG ultimately survives because of the strength of the bonds formed by its community, then Final Fantasy XIV’s future looks as bright as the Mojave desert’s midday sun. Ten more years? On this evidence, you wouldn’t bet against it. 

The Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest comes to London on October 21-22. Visit the official website for further details