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

In early 2025, a controversial Final Fantasy 14 mod named “Playerscope” ignited widespread concern after reports surfaced that it could access and scrape sensitive player data—including character details, retainer information, alternate characters linked to a Square Enix account, and more.

This mod enables users to monitor specific player data for anyone in their vicinity within the game. The collected information is then transmitted to a centralized database controlled by the mod’s creator—regardless of whether the user is actively targeting someone or simply near other players. This includes data not typically accessible through standard in-game tools.

Notably, Playerscope provides access to “Content ID” and “Account ID,” which can be used to track players across multiple characters. This was made possible by exploiting the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, originally intended to allow players to blacklist others across all their characters and service account.

The only known way to prevent your data from being harvested is to join the mod’s private Discord server and opt out. As such, every Final Fantasy 14 player not part of that server is potentially at risk. Naturally, this raised serious privacy concerns. One Reddit user bluntly summarized the situation: “the purpose is obvious, to stalk people.”

A few weeks after its release, the mod developer revealed on Discord that Playerscope had been posted publicly on GitHub, leading to a surge in popularity. Due to violations of GitHub’s terms of service, the repository was eventually removed. However, copies reportedly appeared on alternative platforms like Gittea and Gitflic. While IGN confirmed that no active repositories exist on those sites today, the mod may still circulate in closed communities.

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

In response, Final Fantasy 14’s producer and director, Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida, issued an official statement on the game’s forums, directly addressing the Playerscope issue:

“We have confirmed that there exist third-party tools that are being used to check Final Fantasy 14 character information not displayed during normal gameplay. The tool is being used to display a segment of a Final Fantasy 14 character's internal account ID, which is then used in an attempt to correlate information on other characters under the same service account.

The Development and Operations teams are aware of the situation and community concerns, and we are currently considering:

• Requesting the removal and deletion of the tool.
• Pursuing legal action.”

Aside from character information visible in-game and on the Lodestone, some players have expressed fears that personal details like billing addresses and payment info might also be exposed. Please rest assured, this is not possible using these third-party tools.

We are committed to maintaining a safe and enjoyable environment for all players. Therefore, we urge everyone to avoid using third-party tools and refrain from sharing installation methods or otherwise contributing to their spread.

The use of third-party tools violates the Final Fantasy 14 User Agreement and poses risks to player safety. We will continue to take a firm stance against such practices.”

Although the use of unauthorized tools is strictly prohibited in Final Fantasy 14, many players regularly rely on permitted add-ons like Advanced Combat Tracker and FFLogs for high-level raid content. Thus, Yoshida’s mention of legal action represents a significant escalation in tone and intent.

Community Reaction

The Final Fantasy 14 community responded critically to Yoshida’s message. One forum user questioned the lack of proactive solutions:

“Fixing the game to break the mod isn’t on the list of options they’re considering, I see.”

Another player criticized the lack of technical accountability:

“Or you could just figure out how to stop exposing this information client-side. Of course, that means extra work they didn’t plan for—but is Final Fantasy 14 really on such a tight schedule and budget that they can’t handle these issues properly?”

A third remarked on the perceived lack of responsibility:

“Kind of a disappointing statement that really fails to acknowledge the root cause of the problem.”

To date, the creator of Playerscope has remained silent amid growing scrutiny.