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

In early 2025, a Final Fantasy 14 mod called "Playerscope" raised significant privacy concerns by allegedly scraping hidden player data, including character and retainer information, as well as details about alternate characters linked to a Square Enix account. This mod enabled users to track specific data of players in their vicinity, which was then sent to a centralized database controlled by the mod author. This database collected information not normally accessible through in-game tools, such as "Content ID" and "Account ID," which could be used to monitor players across different characters. This functionality exploited the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, designed to facilitate blacklisting across a service account and multiple characters.

To avoid having their data scraped, players were required to join a private Discord channel and opt out explicitly. This means that any Final Fantasy 14 player not in the channel risked having their data tracked, posing a major privacy threat. The community has been vocal about their concerns, with one Reddit user stating, "the purpose is obvious, to stalk people."

The mod gained significant attention after its source was discovered on Github, leading to a surge in its popularity. However, due to violations of terms of service, Playerscope was removed from Github and reportedly mirrored on other platforms like Gittea and Gitflic, although IGN confirmed that it no longer exists on these alternative sites. There remains a possibility that the mod continues to circulate within private communities.

Yoshida outlined the development and operations teams' response, which included requesting the removal and deletion of the tool, and considering legal action. He reassured players that personal information such as addresses and payment details registered on Square Enix accounts could not be accessed through these tools. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a safe environment and urged players to avoid using or sharing information about third-party tools, as their use violates the Final Fantasy 14 User Agreement and threatens player safety.

Despite the prohibition of third-party tools, tools like Advanced Combat Tracker are commonly used by the game's raiding community, with data often cross-referenced on websites like FFlogs. Yoshida's mention of potential legal action marks a significant escalation in addressing the issue.

The Final Fantasy 14 community has responded critically to Yoshida's statement. One user commented, "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 user expressed disappointment, stating, "kind of a disappointing statement that really fails to acknowledge the root cause of the problem."

The author of Playerscope has not yet issued a response to these developments.