Naoki Yoshida appears on the Day 2 stage of FF14 Fan Festival 2026 as host of Naoki's Room, alongside Toshio Murouchi, with Kuzuha added to the guest list. His public comments on remaking Final Fantasy VI, VIII and IX describe the scale as unreal.
Yoshida's most recent public booking is Fan Festival 2026 itself, set for October 31 and November 1 at Makuhari Messe. Square Enix announced on October 19 that Kuzuha joins the guest list for Naoki's Room, the Day 2 stage Yoshida hosts with Toshio Murouchi. The booked guests for that stage include k4sen, SHAKA, Karubi Akami, Clutch_Fi, Nekomugi Tororo, Obo, Uruka, Tonakaito, Sasatikk and Tatsuomi Hamada. The announcement said scheduling had been worked out, which reads as a late booking. The event is billed as the largest FF14 Fan Festival yet, run with AEON Mall Makuhari New City and Toyosuna Park, and the program covers activities, food menus, a piano concert and a special live performance alongside the guest stages.
Three months earlier, a different kind of appearance put him in the news. At the Fan Festival in Berlin, held July 25-26, Yoshida spoke on a panel with Final Fantasy VII Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi about games that influenced them. Hamaguchi cited Final Fantasy VI as his reason for entering the game industry and said media often misreport such answers as remake announcements. Yoshida said he understands the desire to remake other Final Fantasy titles after Final Fantasy VII, but the scale of such projects is considerable. He named Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX, and said a remake could become a four-part series, or five parts if done poorly.
The two August stories are the same remarks, and the second one adds the caveat behind them. Hamaguchi described the decade-long development of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy and credited his team's stability for letting the project reach completion. He cautioned against casually committing to a similar undertaking. The throughline across the coverage is a producer's working assessment of scale rather than a plan: no remake of VI, VIII or IX is announced.
In between, on October 1, 2026, Cymbi Inc. appointed a Naoki Yoshida as an external advisor. The appointment is described as bringing his knowledge and industry networks in human resources into the company's recruiting consulting, RPO, recruiting branding, and HR and organizational development work. The Cymbi announcement identifies that Yoshida as Director, President and COO of Tokyo Executive Search Co., Ltd. It is a separate role from the Square Enix work described in the game stories.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
5d ago
Square Enix's official Final Fantasy XIV account announced on October 19 that VTuber Kuzuha will appear at FF14 Fan Festival 2026, set for October 31 and November 1 at Makuhari Messe. Kuzuha is one of the guests on Naoki's Room, the Day 2 stage hosted by producer Naoki Yoshida and Toshio Murouchi. The posted guest list for Naoki's Room also includes k4sen, SHAKA, Karubi Akami, Clutch_Fi, Nekomugi Tororo, Obo, Uruka, Tonakaito, Sasatikk and Tatsuomi Hamada. The announcement said scheduling had been worked out, leaving the impression the booking was settled late. The event is billed as the largest FF14 Fan Festival yet, run with AEON Mall Makuhari New City and Toyosuna Park, and the venue program covers activities, food menus, a piano concert and a special live performance alongside the guest stages.
Oct 6
Cymbi Inc. appointed Naoki Yoshida, Director, President and COO of Tokyo Executive Search Co., Ltd., as an external advisor effective October 1, 2026. The company says the appointment brings Yoshida's knowledge and industry networks in the human resources domain into its recruiting consulting, RPO, recruiting branding, and HR and organizational development work. Yoshida wrote that he accepted because Cymbi treats recruiting as management strategy.
Aug 5
Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida commented at the Berlin Fan Festival on fan requests to remake Final Fantasy VI, VIII, and IX, saying the scale is unreal and such projects could become four- or five-part series. His remarks followed Final Fantasy VII Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi clarifying that media outlets exaggerated his comments about Final Fantasy VI.
Aug 4
Naoki Yoshida, producer of Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 14 at Square Enix, said during a talk panel at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin that remaking Final Fantasy 6 or Final Fantasy 8 could result in a four-part or five-part series. The panel, held July 25-26, featured Yoshida and Final Fantasy 7 Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi discussing games that influenced them. Hamaguchi cited Final Fantasy 6 as his reason for entering the game industry, but noted that media often misreports such answers as an announcement of a remake. Yoshida responded that he understands the desire for remakes of other Final Fantasy titles following Final Fantasy 7, but the scale of such projects is considerable. He mentioned Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 8, and Final Fantasy 9 as examples, suggesting a remake could become a four-part series, or five parts if done poorly. Hamaguchi reflected on the decade-long development of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, crediting his team's stability for allowing the project to reach completion, and cautioned against casually committing to a similar undertaking.