Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida, known to fans as Yoshi-P, has admitted that long development cycles right across the Final Fantasy series make it “harder” for new players or younger generations “to engage with” the franchise.

Reflecting on the issue in a video interview promoting spinoff Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy, Yoshida discussed how young people might have struggled to “connect” with the Final Fantasy franchise simply because it takes so long to release mainline entries.

“I’m 53 now, and I’ve been playing since Final Fantasy 1 in real time… But for younger generations — people who grew up naturally accustomed to action-based combat and online competitive play — the recent entries in the series may have been harder to engage with,” Yoshi-P said.

“Part of that is simply because I’m sorry to say… the release intervals for new titles have gotten longer, so some players haven’t really had the chance to connect with the series the way older fans did.”

He’s not wrong, either. Taking Final Fantasy 7 Remake as an example, what was once one game has now been chopped up into three different instalments, with one released in 2020, the second part in 2024, and… well, there’s still no release date for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3. That means there’ll be at least six years between the release of Part 1 and Part 3, which is a period of time in which many player tastes, incomes, and available free time can change drastically.

Similarly, Final Fantasy 15 was released in 2016, Final Fantasy 16 came out in 2023, and there’s no word on a potential Final Fantasy 17. In 2024, Yoshi-P, who produced Final Fantasy 16, said it might be time for a younger generation to lead the franchise and helm Final Fantasy 17, but we haven’t heard anything about a potential sequel as Square Enix focuses on getting Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 out the door.

Speaking of which, director Naoki Hamaguchi recently opened up about what to expect when the third instalment of the highly-anticipated multi-chapter game eventually comes out “not too far in the future,” including new gameplay mechanics and locations, some of which we have yet to visit in the remake series.

The director also recently teased that the “core game experience is almost complete,” and while he “really want[s] everyone to play it as soon as possible,” the team has now moved on to “refining and polishing.” And yes, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s Queen’s Blood card game is making a “powered-up” comeback for the final chapter in Square Enix’s remake trilogy.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.