Yoshi-P Threatens Legal Action Over 'Stalking' Mod in Final Fantasy 14

In early 2025, a mod for Final Fantasy 14 named "Playerscope" raised significant concerns about privacy and "stalking" due to its ability to scrape hidden player data. This mod enabled users to gather detailed information such as character profiles, retainer details, and any alternate characters linked to a Square Enix account. Playerscope worked by tracking specific player data within the vicinity of the user and sending it to a centralized database controlled by the mod's author, regardless of whether the user was specifically targeting another player or simply in their presence.

The mod exploited the "Content ID" and "Account ID" systems, introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, allowing users to track players across multiple characters. The only way to opt out of this data collection was by joining a private Discord channel and explicitly opting out, leaving all other players vulnerable to having their data scraped. This has sparked a major privacy concern within the Final Fantasy 14 community, with one Reddit user commenting, "the purpose is obvious, to stalk people."

The mod's popularity surged after it was discovered on Github, but due to violations of terms of service, it was subsequently removed. Although it no longer exists on Github or alternative platforms like Gittea and Gitflic, as verified by IGN, it may still be circulating in private communities.

In response, Final Fantasy 14's producer and director, Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, issued a statement on the game's official forum addressing the issue of third-party mods, specifically mentioning Playerscope. Yoshida confirmed the use of these tools to access non-public character information and stated that the development and operations teams are considering requesting the tool's removal and deletion, as well as pursuing legal action. He emphasized that personal information like addresses and payment details cannot be accessed through these tools and reiterated the prohibition of third-party tools under the Final Fantasy 14 User Agreement.

Despite the ban on third-party tools, tools like Advanced Combat Tracker are commonly used within the raiding community, often in conjunction with websites such as FFlogs. Yoshida's mention of potential legal action marks a significant escalation in the game's stance against these tools.

The FF14 Community Responds

The Final Fantasy 14 community has responded critically to Yoshida's statement. One user pointed out, "fixing the game to break the mod isn’t on the list of options they’re considering I see." Another suggested, "or you could just see how not to expose the information on [the player’s] client side. Of course, this means extra work which they did not plan for, but is Final Fantasy 14 really on such a tight schedule and budget they can't deal with these things properly?" A third player expressed disappointment, stating, "kind of a disappointing statement that really fails to acknowledge the root cause of the problem."

As of now, the author of Playerscope has not issued a response to the ongoing controversy.