Final Fantasy 14 fans are currently celebrating the announcement of the MMO's newest expansion, Endwalker. Yet going by Endwalker's announcement event, Square Enix sees a different reveal as more important. During the presentation, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda took the stage to announce Final Fantasy 14 is coming to PlayStation 5. Such a major focus on the next-gen console port prompted fans to speculate that Final Fantasy 14 could be coming to Xbox Series X, too. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
Speaking with the Washington Post, Final Fantasy 14 producer Naoki Yoshida was asked directly about the possibility of the MMO launching on Xbox, as well as other platforms. Yoshida confirms that there are no such plans for the time being. Final Fantasy 14 players will have to be content with the current level of support for both PC and PlayStation.
Yoshida does provide some context for the decision, though. He says that Square Enix's current development cycle for Final Fantasy 14 updates and expansions is "rather condensed." This cadence then doesn't allow for expansion onto other platforms without long-term planning. Yoshida says that adding another platform would effectively "exponentially grow" the number of required resources from Square Enix. Suffice to say, the Final Fantasy 14 team's current schedule doesn't appear ready for that.
As for when or if the Final Fantasy 14 team will ever be ready to support Xbox, it'd a difficult question to ask right now. While it's true that Endwalker will be the conclusion of the current Final Fantasy 14 story, leaving the team open to pursuing other ideas after, that doesn't mean the devs will be slowing down. In fact, Yoshida's already working on Final Fantasy 16 as game director in addition to his Final Fantasy 14 work. If Xbox is in Final Fantasy 14's future, it's like years away.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC and PS4, with PS5 support coming later this year.
Source: Washington Post