In early 2025, a Final Fantasy XIV mod ignited concerns about player stalking. Reports surfaced that the mod, "Playerscope," harvested hidden player data, including character details, retainer information, linked alternate characters, and more.
Playerscope tracked players' data, sending it to a central database controlled by the mod's author. This occurred regardless of whether a specific player was targeted or if the user simply happened to be near others. The mod accessed information normally unavailable through in-game tools.
Crucially, Playerscope revealed "Content ID" and "Account ID," enabling cross-character tracking. This exploited the Content ID system introduced in the Dawntrail expansion, originally designed for player blacklisting across accounts and characters.
Opting out required joining Playerscope's private Discord server. This implied that every Final Fantasy XIV player outside this server was potentially having their data scraped, raising serious privacy concerns. Community outcry was swift, with many labeling the mod's purpose as "to stalk people."
After its initial appearance on GitHub, Playerscope's popularity exploded. Following terms of service violations, it was removed from GitHub, but allegedly mirrored on Gittea and Gitflic. IGN verified that it was no longer present on these alternative platforms; however, it might still circulate within private communities.
Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, Final Fantasy XIV's producer and director, addressed the issue on the game's official forum, directly referencing Playerscope. His statement acknowledged the existence of third-party tools accessing normally hidden character information, including parts of internal account IDs used to link other characters on the same service account. Yoshida stated that the development and operations teams are considering requesting the tool's removal and pursuing legal action. He reassured players that this tool could not access personal information like addresses or payment details registered with Square Enix accounts. He reiterated the prohibition of third-party tools, urging players not to use them or share information about their installation or distribution.
While tools like Advanced Combat Tracker are commonly used by the raiding community and integrated with websites like FFlogs, Yoshida's legal threat represents a significant escalation.
The FF14 Community Responds
The community's response to Yoshida's statement was largely critical. Many questioned why Square Enix wasn't addressing the root cause of the vulnerability, suggesting that fixing the game's client-side data exposure would be a more effective solution than legal action. Disappointment was expressed at the statement's failure to acknowledge the core problem. The Playerscope author has yet to publicly respond.
