E3 2009: Square-Enix re-considering FFXIV exclusivity?

PS3 News | That was much quicker than last time.

At Square Enix's E3 press conference, Shinji Hashimoto, Senior Vice President, has addressed Final Fantasy XIV Online's exclusivity to PS3. According to Hashimoto, the game is still currently headed for PS3 and PC, although "in terms of other hardware devices, including Microsoft's, we're considering all possibilities."

While this is far from confirmation that the game will eventually appear on 360, it is possible that it will be a timed exclusive for PS3, depending on the performance of the game. We'll keep you updated with other details from the conference as they appear.

Related Final Fantasy XIV Online Content

E3 2009: Final Fantasy XIV Online Preview
05 Jun, 2009 Heroes of the realm, take up your blades! We're taking a look at Square Enix's next MMO.

E3 2009: Final Fantasy XIV details
04 Jun, 2009 Cross-platform, cross-region and arriving in 2010.

E3 2009: Final Fantasy XIV Online trailer
03 Jun, 2009 Epic fun with friends?

23 Comments

trixSTAR

2 years ago

You will need to up your post to say ps3 and pc, then 360 eventually

David No.1

2 years ago

Damn it! I did not see this one coming at all! I WANT EXCLUSIVES DAMN IT!

Zhaz

2 years ago

Sony's press conference was what, like more than a day ago and already they're thinking of changing their mind? I hope Sony didn't pay anything for the exclusive rights, otherwise I'd be pissed.

Benza

2 years ago

David No.1 wrote

Damn it! I did not see this one coming at all! I WANT EXCLUSIVES DAMN IT!

Why does it matter to you if it's exclusive?

G3ck0

2 years ago

Everyone wants exclusives on the console they own.

Frozencry

2 years ago

The only problem I see with non-exclusivity is a longer development time which leads to waiting longer for a release.

This is assuming they work on it while the other platforms are being developed for.

LeonJ

2 years ago

Denny wrote

Well it's coming out 2010 on PS3/PC (wish isn't long away). You'd assume that if it does come to other platforms this will be an afterthought.

Gamesta

2 years ago

This is why I wasn't excited when someone in another forums was like "OMG FFXIV IS EXCLUSIVE". Seriously how can anyone get excited when a game is supposedly exclusive? Exclusivity is pretty much no existent these days unless it's 1st party.

Benza

2 years ago

Sambo110 wrote

Everyone wants exclusives on the console they own.

I don't, I want Mass Effect on the PS3 so my friends with only a PS3 can get a chance to play it since it's awesome, if they anounced Crackdown 2 on the PS3 my first reaction would be to call my mate Shannon who owns a PS3 and tell him that he has to buy it cause it will be **** awesome.

sobriquet835

2 years ago

Only argument I can see for Exclusivity is a more focused development specific to a console, that could lead to slighly higher quality graphics, less slowdown and slightly tighter controls. And this can still be achieved if you take into account timed exclusives, games can be ported fairly easily, so even this argument is limited. Personally, I'd rather not see exclusives, because all it means is I miss out on certain awesome games because they're only on some other console.

EDIT: Therefore I like that this is a timed exclusive.

Sin Ogaris

2 years ago

What they need to do is have cross platform multiplayer, I'm sick of not being able to play games with people because we bought different systems. There's probably some development issues involved but screw you developers, make it happen.

Karai Pantsu

2 years ago

It's not a development issue at all, rather it's something that Microsoft and Sony will not allow. Nooooooot gonna happen

Sin Ogaris

2 years ago

Could they be any more god damn petty? No one loses out if it's included, but if it's not we, as gamers, get the shaft. So damn frustrating.

Especially for a game like this, an MMO needs as many players as it can get to truly get a memorable experience, so to slice the player base because of a petty rivalry is absolutely ridiculous.

David No.1

2 years ago

Really sorry guys... I was trying to pull off sarcasm on the internet. It didn't work. Should of added 'SARCASM!!' - yes with 2 exclamation marks.

RXWAG

2 years ago

who cares they have managed to alienate me 2 out of 3 times when this and FFXIII comes out on this generation of consoles!!

poor internet connection, no intention of playing an MMO have left me out of this one and FFXI

lucky FFXII was in there somewhere.....

Windburn

2 years ago

Actually guys, if you look at MMOs being developed in general on consoles, none have opted to develop for the XBOX 360. This is because developers have recognised (as stated in one of The Agency interviews) that the XBOX 360 network infrastructure is actually far too restrictive, and they couldn't foresee a way to get the 360 to communicate nicely with the other platforms. The Agency wanted to develop for 360 too, but they were prevented from doing so.

This is also why we have yet to see a shared Xbox360 and PC online experience, even though the code is almost identical.

On the flipside, and one thing that Sony has done right, is design the PS3 to support this sort of communication with "external" devices too, and so it is the console of choice for MMOs to develop for.

Sp, it would seem that this is a hardware/technical reason for exclusivity, and no reason to cry foul as some of you have above. I bet they would have loved to bring FFXIV to the X360 from day 1, but for this technical hurdle. It would make sense too, as that's why they were so quick to hedge their bets, and include an "if Microsoft pull their fingers out..." scenario at the vague possibility of it hitting the 360.

Island_Wolf

2 years ago

^FFXI was on the 360.

In all honesty, I think its possible for the 360 and PC to have a shared online experience, its just no one has done it before so it will be a huge task for any developer to be the first one to try and succeed. Anything is possible in development, if mind is great enough.

In all honesty, I didn't think the FFXIV was going to be Sony console exclusive, why? just look at FFXI. First out on the PS2, many month later then it released on the PC (best move ever because I'm a huge fan of playing it on PC) and then years and years later, the 360. It will be the same for FFXIV.

Tom101007

2 years ago

wait... yet to see a shared 360 PC online experience? then what the hell was shadowrun if not that, in fact it was the cross platform that was its selling point

Sin Ogaris

2 years ago

Didn't Unreal Tournament III have some sort of cross platform support? Or was that feature canned?

Flea

2 years ago

You want as many platforms and sales for a game like this. A bigger player base makes the game much more enjoyable and is sort of the reason why FFXI is unplayable for new players (low english speaking player base). PC version will be the best anyway.

mattstep

2 years ago

Pfft, I've never been a Final Fantasy fan myself so this doesn't really effect me at all. I may have been tempted to get caught up in the hype... until I read that it will likely be a MMO. No thanks.

matrix-cat

2 years ago

I think most people stopped caring about FFXIV about a minute and a half after it was announced when the word 'online' popped up at the end of the trailer. It was probably the quickest OMG-to-...oh turn around I've experienced.