When Square Enix finally brought Final Fantasy 15 to PC earlier this year, it was an achievement that deserved to be applauded. While Final Fantasy games had been put on the PC before, it was a rare sight indeed to see that modding tools and support had been added, officially by Square Enix, to the PC version of the game.
In an interview with GameSpot, Square Enix live services manager Shigefumi Tanaka discussed why they are just now looking to implementing mods after so long. He states “I think most Square Enix titles don’t really open themselves up to mods officially. It’s a first in many ways.” Though a first, Tanaka did add that there could be a possibility of mod support becoming “a new standard” for future games on the PC.
But it goes beyond becoming a standard. When questioned about the West, their use of mods and whether Final Fantasy 15’s use of mods was to catch up, Tanaka said “Generally, our business is not just putting out games for the Japanese market. We’ve always had a global vision, especially with FFXV.”
Considering how well mods can expand the lifespan of a game (such as Skyrim and The Witcher 3), it hasn’t been a terrible move on Square Enix’s part to think more about their inclusion in future games. Tanaka himself believes that mods “gives the feeling of you being involved in something bigger”, a feeling that can’t be experienced anywhere else apart from maybe when you’re with friends on multiplayer.
“That’s why we’re doing the mods and all the great updates like user treasures and things like that,” Tanaka said. “To give some kind of connection with players around the world. Even though it’s not a multiplayer experience.”
So do you think Square Enix will continue investing in mods in the future? And if so, do you feel as though you would play their games for longer with mod support? Let us know in the comments below.
