10 INSANE Video Game Risks (That Totally Paid Off)

At the end of 2012, the long-storied Final Fantasy series hit its lowest ever point. After the much derided trilogy of FF13 games, the next entry in the franchise needed to really sing. Instead, it croaked.

Final Fantasy XIV was meant to be the evolution of the series' previous MMO efforts but was anything but. Even aside from major performance issues, it just wasn't fun. It was bogged down in convoluted systems and menus and it's core loop seemed to be made up mostly of tireless grinding.

Developers Square were presented with several, unenviable options on what to do. After a year of the game being a laughing stock and disappointment for invested fans, Square announced they were pulling the plug and starting over. For a name like Final Fantasy, at this point an institution in gaming, it was a bold move. Getting it right this time was so important that it delayed many other titles from the company.

With a new director and producer in Yoshi-P, who had not worked on the original FF14 nor even met most of the existing staff, the next two years were an exhaustive challenge.

Thankfully, they paid off. Final Fantasy XIV rubber-banded from being an embarrassing disaster to being an immediately impressive title that went onto critical acclaim, industry awards and becoming one of the front-running MMOs of the modern era.