We have a lot of fun here on Massively Overpowered making jokes about how Final Fantasy XI, despite having been in nominal maintenance mode for years, continues to get new content and monthly patches in defiance of what maintenance mode means. But it could have been nothing worth joking about. A recent discussion with Dengeki Online talking with producer and director Yoji Fujito reveals that the maintenance mode for the game really did nearly mean no new content, no monthly patches – even potentially a full server shutdown following the end of the Voracious Resurgence storyline.

But that didn’t happen because of fan support. Here’s Fujito:

“2024 was the year when FFXI updates would end and there was a good chance that we would move into a so-called ‘maintenance mode’ where we would only maintain the system. However, at the time of the 20th anniversary, we received requests from various quarters to continue long-term operation, and above all, stopping the service would lead to the destruction of daily life for active adventurers. For those who have supported FFXI up to now, we consider it the mission of the current members to continue operating FFXI as a living game, and this year we proceeded with server replacement so that we can continue stable operation in the future. […] [Ending updates or game service] was a possibility, but when we reached our 20th anniversary, we received a lot of voices from many people saying, ‘We want you to continue the service in the future.’ Above all, players were logging in and playing the game. So I discussed it with Matsui and decided to continue it on the premise that we would update the servers and development equipment, and consider the careers of the staff, and proceed with concurrent roles and transfers for learning. As part of that, I decided to take on the role of producer in place of Matsui. At that time, I was thinking that if the excitement for FFXI was on a downward trend when Eclipse of the World was completed, then I would really prepare for the end. […] But that didn’t happen. I took this as an oracle to continue operating it in the future, and decided to continue.”

In other words, Vana’diel’s fanbase convinced the devs to keep updating instead of seeing activity slow down. So sure, the patches may be slower, but the developers are still keeping this game that was originally developed more than 20 years ago for the Playstation 2 maintained and active because the fans still love it. That’s pretty cool.

The whole interview is worth a read; Fujito Yoji also touches on the recent player survey and how the studio aims to revamp its time-to-win and soloability factors to suit modern players, including improving trusts, making group content more accessible, and implementing New Limbus.