While the proper and holy way to play Final Fantasy XIV is on PC, the game is also available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The controller-bound among us are firmly on the Sony side of the pond, while Xbox gamers are outside looking in. Just waiting for the FFXIV team to hit them with a port.
Last week at the Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft made another overture to the Japanese gaming community. Xbox boss Phil Spencer talked to Japanese site Game Watch (as translated by VGC), and he mentioned FFXIV. It’s one of the biggest MMOs on the market — Microsoft is currently in the middle of buying the publisher of the other one — and Spencer would love to have it on the platform.
“Naturally, we haven’t given up yet. This is a commitment from both Microsoft and Square Enix to gamers and we will continue to coordinate our efforts,” said Spencer in regards to FFXIV.
The “giving up” Spencer is referring to is his 2019 assertion that Final Fantasy XIV would be coming to Xbox. According to Eurogamer, he made this statement to press prior to the XO19 event, following the announcement that many other Final Fantasy titles were coming to Xbox Game Pass.
“The astute people out there might have noticed there’s one Final Fantasy that’s missing in our list. [FFXIV] is one I’ve been dedicated to, working with [director] Yoshida-san to find a solution to bring that game to Xbox. And while it’s not in the news today, I wanted you to know, rest assured, that we will be bringing that game to Xbox,” he said at the time. “We have a great relationship with Yoshida-san, and we’re working through what it means to bring a cross-platform MMO that they’ve run for years. But it will be one of the games that’s coming and it’s something I know our Xbox fans will be incredibly excited to see.”
Yoshida himself followed up on that comment a few months later. He told WCCftech that part of the issue was crossplay and certain Microsoft restrictions around online multiplayer content.
“Two months ago, I discussed with Phil Spencer. I have explained this before but we are prepared to do crossplay at any time,” Yoshida explained. “One of the regulations is that players with different platforms cannot chat with each other in-game. The other regulation is you cannot make a community with plays on a different platform. So I would like to have Microsoft change their regulations.”
That was the last time a potential Xbox port of FFXIV was mentioned until last week. And it sounds like neither side has come to an agreement that will see the MMO making the jump to the Xbox Series S or X. If you want to play FFXIV on consoles, Sony is the one delivering your platform of choice.
