Despite previously indicating that Square Enix is looking to launch their upcoming Final Fantasy-based MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV on the PC as well as multiple consoles, Hiromichi Tanaka, the director of the game, has stated that the way in which Xbox Live is set up currently prevents the company from making an Xbox 360 version of the game.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Tanaka indicates that Xbox Live is “different to the normal internet environment, so when we wanted to introduce this game in the same environment as Windows PC it had to be PS3, so that was our choice.” In the past, Square Enix had already called for more freedom for developers when it comes to determining business models on consoles, with Tanaka adding that “Microsoft has a different point of view: they want to have a closed environment for Xbox Live.”
Final Fantasy XI, a previous MMORPG developed by Square Enix, was lauched on the Xbox 360 in 2006. It is unclear what specific modifications Square Enix is currently seeking to implement with Final Fantasy XIV with regard to the business model it employs for this earlier game.
Well seeing as how FFXI came out on 360 3 years after it was on PC and PS2, I would assume that it would be at least a few months to possibly a few years before XIV comes to 360. It is just as the Square guys say, a closed system causes problems.
From what I have heard, the 360 version of the game is basically done, but MS has a hard time letting MMO developers have any freedom to mess with the servers. The same thing has happened with other MMOs that were planned for the system.
Having a game world common to players on different consoles is a bonus, as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t be disappointed if Xbox’ers were limited to Xbox-only servers, but I’m very disappointed that they might not get the opportunity to play this at all. This is a step backwards after having FF13 on the 360.