Final Fantasy 14 Director Yoshi-P Threatens Legal Action Against 'Stalking' Mod

In early 2025, a Final Fantasy XIV mod ignited concerns about player stalking after reports surfaced detailing its ability to scrape sensitive player data. This included character information, retainer details, linked alternate characters, and more. The mod, "Playerscope," tracked players' data, sending it to a central database controlled by the mod's author. This occurred regardless of whether a specific player was targeted or if the user simply happened to be near others. The data accessed exceeded what's normally visible through in-game tools.

Playerscope accessed "Content ID" and "Account ID," enabling cross-character tracking. It exploited the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, originally designed for player blacklisting across accounts and characters. The only way to prevent data scraping was to join Playerscope's private Discord and opt out, implying that virtually every Final Fantasy XIV player outside this Discord was potentially affected. This significant privacy breach prompted strong community backlash, with one Reddit commenter stating the mod's "purpose is obvious, to stalk people."

Weeks ago, the mod author revealed Playerscope's presence on GitHub, leading to a surge in popularity. Subsequently removed from GitHub due to Terms of Service violations, it allegedly reappeared on Gittea and Gitflic, though IGN verified its absence from both. However, the mod might still circulate within private communities.

Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, Final Fantasy XIV's producer and director, addressed the situation on the game's official forum, directly referencing Playerscope. His statement acknowledged the existence of third-party tools revealing in-game unseen character information, including parts of internal account IDs used to link other characters on the same service account. Yoshida stated the development and operations teams are considering requesting the tool's removal and pursuing legal action. He reassured players that the tool could not access personal information like addresses or payment details from Square Enix accounts. He urged players to avoid using third-party tools, refrain from sharing information about them, and emphasized that their use violates the Final Fantasy XIV User Agreement and compromises player safety.

While tools like Advanced Combat Tracker are commonly used by the raiding community and integrated with sites like FFlogs, Yoshida's legal threat represents a significant escalation.

The FFXIV Community Responds

The community reacted critically to Yoshida's statement. One user commented on the lack of options addressing the root cause of the problem, suggesting fixing the game to prevent the mod's functionality. Another criticized the lack of client-side data protection, implying insufficient resources or planning. A further comment deemed the statement disappointing for failing to acknowledge the core issue. The Playerscope author has yet to respond publicly.