Final Fantasy 16 producer asks fans to please not make "offensive" or "inappropriate" PC mods
Asking for trouble?
Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has asked fans to not mod "anything offensive or inappropriate" into the PC release of the game.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai was asked about goofy mods he'd like to see in the game, but Yoshida stepped in to answer instead. And it's clear he's protective of the team's work.
"If we said 'It'd be great if someone made xyz', it might come across as a request, so I'll avoid mentioning any specifics here!" he said. "The only thing I will say is that we definitely don't want to say anything offensive or inappropriate, so please don't make or install anything like that."
Now, Yoshida does have a particularly good relationship with Final Fantasy players, but surely this comment will spur modders on further? The likes of Ifrit as a giant Shrek, voice actor Ben Starr's meme-glowing face on Clive, or Thomas the Tank Engine making an appearance absolutely anywhere was always going to happen, and fans won't want Yoshida spoiling the fun.
Equally, Yoshida was probably referring indirectly to some of the more serious scenes in the game that include nudity. Just, don't go there.
It's no surprise that Yoshida isn't a fan of mods. They're banned from MMORPG Final Fantasy 14, for instance, and Yoshida stated he was "extremely disappointed" when in 2023 a Japanese raid team successfully beat a challenge while secretly using mods.
Still, the mod scene is at this point simply a part of the PC games community. And with Square Enix's multiplatform strategy, we can perhaps expect more Final Fantasy mods in future.
Indeed, the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PC brought plenty of mods. Eurogamer's VR expert Ian Higton even tried it out in VR.
By contrast, Baldur's Gate 3 recently added official modding capabilities in its latest update, with Larian CEO Swen Vincke noting "modding is pretty big - we had more than a million mods installed in less than 24 hours".
Final Fantasy 16 releases on PC today, following its PS5 console-exclusive release last year.