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

In early 2025, a Final Fantasy 14 mod named "Playerscope" sparked significant privacy concerns due to its ability to scrape hidden player data. This mod was designed to track sensitive details such as character information, retainer data, and even alternate characters linked to a Square Enix account. By exploiting the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, Playerscope could access "Content ID" and "Account ID" information, enabling users to track players across different characters.

The mod's functionality raised alarms because it sent collected data to a centralized database managed by the mod's author, regardless of whether the user was actively targeting a specific player or simply near other players. This invasive practice led to widespread fears of "stalking," as voiced by the community on platforms like Reddit, where one user stated, "the purpose is obvious, to stalk people."

Playerscope gained notoriety after its code was discovered on GitHub, leading to an increase in its use. However, due to violations of GitHub's terms of service, the mod was removed. Despite this, it was reportedly mirrored on other platforms like Gittea and Gitflic, though IGN confirmed that no such repository exists on these sites anymore. The mod might still be circulating within private communities.

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida responded to the situation with a statement on the game's official forum. He acknowledged the existence of third-party tools like Playerscope that access non-public character information and confirmed that the development and operations teams are considering options such as requesting the tool's removal and pursuing legal action. Yoshida emphasized that while personal information like addresses and payment details cannot be accessed by these tools, the use of third-party tools violates the Final Fantasy 14 User Agreement and poses a threat to player safety.

The Final Fantasy 14 community has reacted strongly to Yoshida's statement. Some players criticized the lack of plans to fix the game to prevent such mods, with one user commenting, "fixing the game to break the mod isn’t on the list of options they’re considering I see." Others suggested that the game should be updated to prevent the exposure of sensitive information, with a player noting, "or you could just see how not to expose the information on [the player’s] client side." Another community member expressed disappointment, saying, "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 public response to the controversy.