Naoki Yoshida departs Square Enix board of directors

Final Fantasy 14 producer Naoki Yoshida has departed Square Enix’s board of directors. He’s been on the board since 2015.

An updated leadership page was put out there and as spotted by Automation Media, Yoshida is absent from the list. It’s worth pointing out, though, he likely didn’t get a demotion, but more likely stepped down on his own, as he didn’t really care for the executive role. Per Dot Esports, he flat out said he didn’t want to be part of the board and wanted to make games.

Yoshida’s lower rank likely means he’s back in the role that he wants. In similar news, FF16 continues to be a huge moneymaker for Square Enix, so perhaps he’ll end up back in the grind as part of the FF train.

Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger Editor-in-Chief

Gabe has been a gamer since he was young, playing games like Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Guitar Hero, and whatever looked cool on GameFly. Ever since 2018, he's been infatuated with the inner workings of the gaming and entertainment industries, covering a wide range of topics from video games to TV and film. Starting as a contributor for PSX Extreme, he's worked his way up to its Managing Editor. Using what's he learned over the years, he founded Smash Jump to remind everyone to smash jump.