During this weekend's Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest, a surprise guest joined Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu and Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida on stage for a joint keynote speech: Xbox's Phil Spencer. The trio revealed a partnership between Microsoft and Square Enix, in particular about bringing more Final Fantasy titles to Xbox systems.

To start with, the online title Final Fantasy XIV will launch on Xbox Series X|S next year, with an open beta starting during the Patch 6.5x series. The digital-only release will provide 4K support on the Xbox Series X, faster loading times, and a duty support system for single players.

Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu added that fans can expect other Final Fantasy games to be released on Xbox in the near future; saying that the company will "continue to deliver fabulous games to fans across the world" and that they're "really looking forward to working closely with Phil and the Xbox team to make this possible."

The latter IP has had a long-standing console exclusivity on PlayStation and it will be interesting to see which titles will come to Xbox, whether it's the newly released Final Fantasy XVI or future titles. Are there any Final Fantasy games you'd like to see available on Xbox platforms?

SOURCE

 

[Ryab]

Cool. I won't particularly be playing this, but it is always good to see a game like this on more platforms.

 

[SDA]

Weird to see a globally successful game franchise that hasn't been ported much to the Xbox. I remember when I, II and IV were even ported to the WonderSwan, too.

 

[Ryab]

Weird to see a globally successful game franchise that hasn't been ported much to the Xbox. I remember when I, II and IV were even ported to the WonderSwan, too.

Xbox and SquareEnix seemed to have a mixed relationship. Most recently the big one was that Xbox was the one platform not to get the FF pixel remasters.

 

[SDA]

Xbox and SquareEnix seemed to have a mixed relationship. Most recently the big one was that Xbox was the one platform not to get the FF pixel remasters.

That explains why the pixel remaster came only on PC, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

 

[Ryab]

That explains why the pixel remaster came only on PC, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

Hell even mobile got it.

 

[Krazyeye]

FF Pixel Remaster should be next

 

[sroemr]

I remember when they had an agreement to put multiple of the older FFs on Gamepass.

It took them like a year and a half to finally get around to it, and they pulled them within 4 or 5 months.

So difficult for me to really care.

 

[tabzer]

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During this weekend's Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest, a surprise guest joined Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu and Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida on stage for a joint keynote speech: Xbox's Phil Spencer. The trio revealed a partnership between Microsoft and Square Enix, in particular about bringing more Final Fantasy titles to Xbox systems.

To start with, the online title Final Fantasy XIV will launch on Xbox Series X|S next year, with an open beta starting during the Patch 6.5x series. The digital-only release will provide 4K support on the Xbox Series X, faster loading times, and a duty support system for single players.

Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu added that fans can expect other Final Fantasy games to be released on Xbox in the near future; saying that the company will "continue to deliver fabulous games to fans across the world" and that they're "really looking forward to working closely with Phil and the Xbox team to make this possible."

The latter IP has had a long-standing console exclusivity on PlayStation and it will be interesting to see which titles will come to Xbox, whether it's the newly released Final Fantasy XVI or future titles. Are there any Final Fantasy games you'd like to see available on Xbox platforms?

SOURCE

Well shit. I broke the news a few days ago:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/final-f...ing-to-xbox-series-x-s-in-spring-2024.637161/

But forgot to include the source straight from Microsoft.

When negotiations between FFXIV devs and Microsoft first occured, M$ weren't having it without forcing users to subscribe to Xbox live and segregated servers for Xbox players only.

 

[pustal]

Next step: bring more Dragon Quest to the PC, starting by VIII and the Switch remakes of I-III.

 

[Lazyboss]

Weird to see a globally successful game franchise that hasn't been ported much to the Xbox. I remember when I, II and IV were even ported to the WonderSwan, too.

Why bother porting them when no one buying an Xbox?

 

[pustal]

Why bother porting them when no one buying an Xbox?

They still have 30% home console market share. And at the state their acquisition rate, I'm not quite sure about the future.

 

[ihaveahax]

Now Xbox players can experience the pain that is the first 200 hours of Final Fantasy XIV!

I wonder if this is related to how the Xbox Series S/X is the first one to have any kind of success in Japan. (And FFXIV has a bigger console player base in Japan.)

 

[KingVamp]

Interesting, considering people were thinking Sony would buy Square.

 

[Lazyboss]

Interesting, considering people were thinking Sony would buy Square.

According to what happened in the court lately it was Microsoft who was trying to buy square.

 

[tabzer]

Now Xbox players can experience the pain that is the first 200 hours of Final Fantasy XIV!

I wonder if this is related to how the Xbox Series S/X is the first one to have any kind of success in Japan. (And FFXIV has a bigger console player base in Japan.)

For real. "The story gets really good after the first 200 hours, stick with it".

I've never seen an XBox in stores here. I saw one in an arcade scam machine once. Guess they understood the demographic.

 

[ZachariasBarnham]

The XBox deal wasn't even the biggest announcement from the Keynote Speech at FanFest. I'm all for FFXIV coming to XBox next year. Which is good for us PS4 players who have been unable to find, much less buy, a PS5.

The biggest announcement came later. When Patch 6.5 is released in October, the Free Trial will be expanded to include the entirety of Stormblood and all of the optional content that came with it.

 

[tabzer]

The XBox deal wasn't even the biggest announcement from the Keynote Speech at FanFest. I'm all for FFXIV coming to XBox next year. Which is good for us PS4 players who have been unable to find, much less buy, a PS5.

The biggest announcement came later. When Patch 6.5 is released in October, the Free Trial will be expanded to include the entirety of Stormblood and all of the optional content that came with it.

I don't know how @Prans came to the decision of using the source that he did. But to be fair, the Free Trial expansion may have little meaning to the Xbox players who are getting FFXIV for the first time. Already an overwhelming amount of content.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2023/07/28/final-fantasy-14-online-coming-to-xbox-spring-2024/

If you are interested in the fanfest or the people involved in the development of this game, I thought this was particularly warming:

 

[StrayGuitarist]

I'm probably still gonna play on PC, but this has been such a long time coming, and I can now bully my Xbox friends into playing

 

[NeroAngelo]

what was the last major FF to be on Xbox? the XIII series on the 360?
as for FFXIV, I clearly remember that MS were the snobs that caused it not to be on the Xbox.