Naoki Yoshida, the director of Final Fantasy XIV, stated during an interview that he hopes to do a crossover with the Diablo series one day.
In an interview published by Rock Paper Shotgun, the director of the MMO Final Fantasy XIV from Square Enix said that one of his most desired crossovers for the game is the Diablo fanchise. This announcement came during the Final Fantasy Fan Festival in London, a massive convention celebrating the franchise, where he called it the “collaboration of his dreams.” This announcement comes mere months after the successful release of Blizzard’s long-awaited Diablo IV, meaning hype around both franchises is at a high.
Why Final Fantasy’s Yoshida Is Interested in Diablo
Yoshida is so interested in this idea for Final Fantasy XIV because he is a longtime fan of Blizzard. According to the interview, his desire for a collaboration goes back as far as 2020 with his hopes of a crossover with fellow hit MMO World of Warcraft.
Yoshida and Square Enix are also interested in crossovers, as they help introduce players from both franchises to new games. Yoshida said during the interview, “Through this action, we want to kind of generate more hype and excitement for the games industry.”
Could a Diablo Crossover Work for Final Fantasy XIV?
One concern that Yoshida raised in the interview was that the hardcore world of Diablo might not mesh well with the more lighthearted Final Fantasy series. Despite this, Yoshida does not want to tone down the harshness of Diablo for it to work, commenting that “If we go for a softer version of Diablo in XIV, of course, maybe that’s not what people want, as well.” Of course, given how dark the Final Fantasy series is capable of being, including XIV’s own Endwalker, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Beyond the Diablo franchise, Final Fantasy XIV has had enough crossovers with other franchises to impress Fortnite. Examples of franchises include Fall Guys, Monster Hunter, Nier and even the franchise’s own Final Fantasy XVI. With such an eclectic taste for crossovers, it’s seems more than possible that a Diablo and Final Fantasy XIV crossover could work. The Diablo series is clearly also open to crossovers given its recent one with Overwatch 2.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for PC, Xbox and PlayStation.
Source: Rock Paper Shotgun
