The "New Team" Myth

It's been a long standing argument in the Square Enix community that FFXIV's team is a "new team", only working on the game since January.  Therefore, the rationale goes, it's okay the updates have been slow, because it's new people getting used to someone else's code and just getting accustomed to the game.

The problem is, Square Enix never said it was a "new team": by their own admission, it consists of most of the original team, with a few changes at the top level.  The idea that it's an entirely new group is an inaccuracy that the community picked up and ran with without verifying.

More precisely, what we're dealing with is a reshuffling, or, as Square Enix's President and CEO refers to it, a "restructured" team.  In his letter, he never once refers to it as a "new team", and goes on to mention that we "welcome several new leaders handpicked from other projects to work with the existing talent [emphasis added] on FINAL FANTASY XIV."

Nine positions changed, four of them filled with existing members of team.  The other five were legitimately new to the project, and installed in leadership positions.  It is of note, however, that one of these five new leaders worked on the Crystal Tools engine FFXIV is built on, implying some immediate familiarity.

In total, we have four completely new individuals - out of over a hundred total members on the development team (in January, current producer Yoshi-P roughly estimated it to be around 130).

Practically speaking, it's the old team, with a few fresh individuals acting in leadership positions.  Most of the leadership - and particularly the grunts - have been here and working on the game since far earlier in it's development cycle.  With the support of Square Enix's CEO and the simple facts to go on, let's put that tired old myth of a "new team" to rest.