Xbox boss still wants Final Fantasy 14 on his platform-Michael Beckwith-Entertainment – Metro

Final Fantasy 14 – Microsoft wants it, Square Enix wants it, so what’s holding them back? (pic: Square Enix)

Despite a three year silence, Phil Spencer swears he’s still working to get Final Fantasy 14 ported to Xbox consoles.

In 2019, Xbox’s Phil Spencer assured fans that, someday, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 14 would be brought over to the Xbox platform.

While director Naoki Yoshida said that conversations between Square Enix and Microsoft were going well last October, there has yet to be any real updates on an Xbox release.

During Tokyo Game Show, Spencer himself was asked about the situation and claimed that both companies are committed to the idea.

Unfortunately though, he didn’t given any hint as to when we could see an Xbox port, nor did he talk about what stage the discussions are at.

Considering all parties involved appear interested in getting Final Fantasy 14 onto Xbox, it’s ultimately a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if.’

‘Of course, we haven’t given up yet. This is Microsoft and Square Enix’s commitment to the game fans of both companies, and we will continue to coordinate in the future,’ Spencer told Game Watch (via Google Translate).

Final Fantasy 14 – no doubt the team is hard at work on starting the next major story expansion (pic: Square Enix)

Given Square Enix’s close working relationship with Sony (to the point where there are rumours of the latter outright acquiring the former), it’d be easy to assume that they was the key roadblock in bringing Final Fantasy 14 to Xbox.

However, in a 2021 interview with VG247, Yoshida stressed that the reason why it’s taking so long is simply the amount of work it involves and there being not enough time to do it.

At the time, the team was very busy with not just the game’s PlayStation 5 port, but also the Endwalker expansion, which launched that December and served as the grand finale to the then current storyline.

In a 2019 interview with Wccftech, Yoshida explained that issues with cross-play were holding things up as well. Namely, Microsoft’s own regulations were making it impossible to properly implement cross-play for a massive multiplayer online game like Final Fantasy 14.

More: Gaming

‘I have explained this before but we are prepared to do cross-play at any time,’ he said. ‘To play an MMORPG, there are two regulations for Microsoft which stand in the way of making cross-play feasible. Unless these regulations are rejected, there is no meaning.’

This was three years ago, though, and more recent comments from Yoshida and Spencer suggest that these issues may have since been dealt with.

Final Fantasy 14 is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Square Enix has had to stop selling Final Fantasy 14 because it’s too popular

MORE : FF14 gets massive new update with new solo-player focus

MORE : Final Fantasy 14 NSFW nightclub roasted by fans for rule breaking billboard

Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

Entertainment – MetroRead More