FFXIV dev claims fate of Variant & Criterion dungeons will be decided by players

Final Fantasy XIV assistant director Masatoshi Ishikawa has claimed that the fate of Variant & Criterion dungeons in Patch 7.0: Dawntail will be decided by the players and their feedback.

Variant and Criterion Dungeons (V&C Dungeons) have been some of the more unique additions to Final Fantasy XIV in the after-patches of Endwalker.

Offering a new take on the traditional dungeon format, Variant dungeons can be completed with a party of 1-4 players, with no limit on roles. Criterion dungeons are Square Enix’s take on harder difficulty dungeons, restricting roles and offering challenging bosses that are on the same level as savage encounters.

While players thoroughly enjoyed the new content that was provided through these dungeons, many critiqued that the rewards were simply not worth the undertaking. With a new Variant & Criterion dungeon coming in Patch 6.5, players are wondering if this feature will be a mainstay come the new expansion of Dawntrail.

FFXIV dev explains the future of Variant and Criterion dungeons

Assistant director of FFXIV Masatoshi Ishikawa has answered players’ queries about V&C dungeons at a recent FanFest. Ishikawa spoke to Inverse about all things Variant and Criterion, including boss design and player reception.

“Criterion Dungeons were our first high-end content for smaller groups, and we received a lot of positive feedback from players who enjoyed tackling them with a party of friends.

“That said, the difficulty of Criterion Dungeons is comparable to an eight-player Savage raid, if not harder, so there were also comments that felt the current rewards aren’t motivating enough to attempt the content.” the developer explained.

Ishikawa also commented on the future of V&C dungeons as a whole, particularly in regard to the next expansion of Dawntrail.

“As for the future of Variant and Criterion dungeons in 7.0 and beyond, it’ll depend on the feedback we receive from our players. So for now, we’d like to hear your thoughts and comments after playing through Mount Rokkon and the third dungeon, which is currently in development.”

The next Variant and Criterion dungeon Aloalo Island is set to release in Patch 6.51 and will likely be the last one to join the game before Dawntrail next year.