Final Fantasy 14 is coming to mobile (sort of). As announced in an honestly pretty charming trailer, seen above, the critically-acclaimed MMORPG will be making its way to mobile devices in a diminished, one might say sundered, form. It’s been developed by LightSpeed Studios, the studio that made PUBG’s mobile port.
As per a post on the upcoming game’s website, FF14 mobile can essentially be thought of as a remake, divorced from the main game. Its controls, battles, and the like will all be “optimised for mobile”, though a blog post promises nine jobs, an armoury system, 11 crafting and gathering classes, and the gold saucer.
It also, based on the current trailer, seems to only include A Realm Reborn in its story content. In what form? Well, that remains to be seen. Will it be a trimmed-down version with the edges sanded off, a reason to return to the Waking Sands? Or a faithful recreation of the one story most veterans are least excited to recommend?
I’m not against any of this in theory, especially since it won’t be taking dev time away from a studio that desperately needs it, but it is weird. This whole thing would be like if, instead of releasing WoW Classic, Blizzard decided to put it on a mobile phone and have someone else make a miniature version of it, with completely redesigned classes to fit on your tiny screen. Fun in concept, but strange.
Mind, given game director Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida’s opinion on a pre-A Realm Reborn classic version—a question he famously responded to in crisp, clear English with the word “NIGHTMARE”, before his translator could interject—I’m not stunned that this is the choice Square’s gone with. Even if he’d likely be more amenable to an ARR timewarp.
It might be anathema to admit on a site dedicated to PC Gaming, but it’s not like this doesn’t make financial sense—mobile gaming is big, even if I’m attached at the hip to my tower. There’s a reason a bunch of my colleagues own Steam Deck, or why HoYoverse is printing money with its trifecta of mobile-ready gacha goldmines. I don’t doubt that FF14 mobile will rake in a bajillion dollars if it’s even remotely good, just like the MMO it’s based on. The game will “soon be available to demo through multiple play tests in China, followed by a global launch soon after”, and you can register for it right now.