Naoki Yoshida has said he doesn't believe that the metaverse is "entertainment," adding how he doesn't see the concept as being similar to MMOs like his own Final Fantasy 14.
Comparisons have been drawn between the two since the whole bullshit metaverse (opens in new tab) craze exploded last year. Our own Nat highlighted virtual worlds (opens in new tab) like Second Life and Habbo Hotel as superior versions of the idea, while Gabe Newell (opens in new tab) said he doesn't understand the fuss when MMOs have been serving a similar purpose for decades. But for Yoshida, it seems as though he's trying to put some distance between his MMO and the metaverse.
In an interview with Weekly Bunshun (opens in new tab), translated by SiliconEra (opens in new tab), the director and producer said: "To me, I see the metaverse as 'a system that replaces reality with a virtual world.' So I don't think the metaverse has anything in common with entertainment."
"In the metaverse I'm thinking of, people will be able to use an avatar in virtual reality, and take a stroll in Shinjuku or do shopping, just like in real life. Though it might be fun, there's no entertainment there. 'What's so interesting about the systems of our real world?' is how I feel."
When asked if he would ever consider working on something metaverse-related, he said he would rather "make something entertaining within the virtual reality rather than a metaverse itself," but doesn't have any plans to do so right now.
The comments are a far cry from Square Enix's sad stance on the entire crypto and blockchain situation. It recently sold off a bunch of its Western studios (opens in new tab) for a paltry amount to fund a desperate attempt to enter the market, with the company president admitting that he knows many gamers are against NFTs. (opens in new tab) Despite that, he wants to faff around with them anyway.
