Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida doesn't want to boast that the game has beaten rival World of Warcraft.
Final Fantasy
The latest edition of Final Fantasy has proved more popular than World of Warcraft but Yoshida is tired of comparisons between the two - suggesting that Final Fantasy "wouldn't exist" without Blizzard's other MMO title.
Speaking during a live stream of Final Fantasy 14, Yoshida said: "Blizzard is definitely aware of this, but without World of Warcraft, A Realm Reborn wouldn't exist.
"WoW was the game we constantly looked up to. Our goal was to recreate a Final Fantasy version of WoW, so saying we won or lost to WoW is off-base to start with, because they were the game we aspired to be."
Yoshida feels that the work that Square Enix have put into the game has paid off but is wary of resting on his laurels.
He said: "The hard work we've been putting into Final Fantasy 14 did pay off.
"But this whole conversation about surpassing WoW is the wrong conversation to have and it's honestly irritating."
When it was put to Yoshida that he should describe Final Fantasy as the "best" game, he said: "If I was that type of guy, we'd miss our footing on the way and 14 wouldn't be loved by so many people."