Yoshi-P, otherwise known in real life as Naoki Yoshida, wishes for a crossover with the Diablo franchise in Final Fantasy FFXIV. The FFXIV producer and director told the reporters during the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2023 in London. But he said that the idea may be difficult to execute.
In a Q&A on October 21, talked about a collaboration he would want, following a question of what his dream crossover would be (via Crystal Universe). Yoshida gave off a single word as a response—Diablo. He went on to explain how he has been open about being a big fan of Blizzard, and if he could ask for anything, it would be to do a partnership with Diablo.
A difficult undertaking
The possibility of a crossover is never removed. Yoshi-P, however, admits the conundrum with the idea. That is, citing the difference in tone and graphical design between the two franchises.
Diablo is quite hardcore, especially the graphics. There are sharp things everywhere. We would have to compromise the whole thing for FFXIV standards, and it wouldn’t be Diablo anymore. I don’t think fans and players would want that.
Citing also the rather intricate nature of building a partnership, Yoshida said:
I usually talk to the developers personally. In the case of Monster Hunter, we contacted the team. This was an idea that I had in my head for a long time before we entered into discussion. In the case of Fall Guys, our EU team was contacted by the developers, the request was forwarded to Japan, and I decided that we would send an offer. Usually, the other side is surprised because we don’t just want to make costumes.
Deep philosophy
Although common intuition would suggest that compromises be made to set a common ground between two distinct franchises, it seems Yoshida has a deeper philosophy when it comes to collabs:
We value collabs being more of a crossover. That’s why a lot of energy and motivation is invested in these projects in order to generate anticipation and hype for the gaming industry.
Then, there are also the fans to consider in both camps:
I like collabs and think that the players like them, but only under the premise that the fans of the respective franchise are also happy with the implementation. If we achieve that, then we will also generate a certain amount of hype and anticipation for the entire industry. If we could do that, I would be very happy.
