So we don't have enough devs

[Mysteltain]

This 100%. Pretty much ends this conversation.

Sadly, that's not how the world works. I think the only source of money that the FFXIV dev team doesn't need to share with the rest of SE is the cash shop's revenue. That's what bought us the EU servers, according to the devs.

[Alberel]

Sadly, that's not how the world works. I think the only source of money that the FFXIV dev team doesn't need to share with the rest of SE is the cash shop's revenue. That's what bought us the EU servers, according to the devs.

I would take what Yoshi said regarding the cash shop funding the EU servers with a grain of salt as that's not really how businesses manage money, especially not a big global one like SE. All money that the company makes, regardless of where it comes from, goes to the company as a whole. Every year companies usually work out a budget with a forecast for major projects that various departments/teams will be working on and associated expenses. These budgets are usually reviewed and adjusted as necessary at certain points throughout the year to account for changes in priorities and unexpected costs.

The important thing to note is that just because the game is making X amount of money that does not mean the devs behind that game suddenly have X amount of money to spend. It may take up to a year for that rise in profits to actually trickle back down into more funds for development.

If I were to hazard a guess about the EU servers: Yoshi negotiated a deal with the execs at SE to introduce a cash shop in exchange for funding for EU servers. I seriously doubt the money from that cash shop went straight into the EU servers.

With regards to the OP: no amount of increased sub fees or cash shop sales would guarantee more money for the FFXIV dev team. The only way they'll get more money is if the execs at SE allocate them a bigger budget. The only way THAT will happen is if they think it would be profitable to do so. It ultimately hinges on Yoshi's ability to negotiate and convince them that a bigger budget would lead to a rise in concurrent subscriptions.