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

In early 2025, a controversial mod for Final Fantasy 14 named "Playerscope" raised significant privacy concerns by allegedly scraping hidden player data. This included character details, retainer information, and any alternate characters linked to a Square Enix account. The mod enabled users to track the specific player data of anyone near them, sending this information to a centralized database managed by the mod's author, regardless of whether the user was actively targeting a player or simply in their vicinity. This data encompassed "Content ID" and "Account ID," facilitating the tracking of players across different characters by exploiting the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, which also allowed for blacklisting across service accounts and multiple characters.

To opt out of data scraping, players needed to join a private Discord channel associated with Playerscope, implying that any Final Fantasy 14 player not in this channel risked having their data collected. This situation sparked widespread concern within the community, with one Reddit user bluntly stating, "the purpose is obvious, to stalk people."

The mod gained significant attention after its code was discovered on Github, leading to a surge in popularity. However, due to violations of the terms of service, Playerscope was removed from Github, though it reportedly found its way onto other platforms like Gittea and Gitflic. IGN confirmed that the mod's repository no longer exists on these alternative sites, but it might still be circulating within private communities.

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida. Photo by Olly Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images.

Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, the producer and director of Final Fantasy 14, issued a statement on the game's official forum addressing the issue of third-party mods, specifically referencing Playerscope. He confirmed the existence of tools that access undisclosed character information and manipulate internal account IDs to link data across multiple characters on a single service account. Yoshida outlined the development and operations teams' considerations, which include requesting the tool's removal and deletion, and exploring legal action. He reassured players that personal information such as addresses and payment details could not be accessed by these tools, emphasizing the game's commitment to a safe environment and urging players to avoid using and promoting third-party tools, as their use is prohibited by the Final Fantasy 14 User Agreement.

While third-party tools like Advanced Combat Tracker are commonly used within the game's raiding community and referenced on sites like FFlogs, Yoshida's mention of potential legal action marks a significant escalation in the game's stance against such mods.

The FF14 Community Responds

The Final Fantasy 14 community has reacted strongly to Yoshida's statement. One player criticized the lack of plans to fix the game to prevent the mod's functionality, while another suggested that the game should focus on not exposing information on the client side, acknowledging the additional work this would entail. A third commenter expressed disappointment, feeling that the statement did not address the root cause of the issue. As of now, the author of Playerscope has not responded to these developments.