Final Fantasy XIV's Fan Festivals opened with a Keynote from the game's director and producer, Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida, who unveiled a plethora of news regarding the future of FFXIV. After first welcoming Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu onto the stage in Las Vegas, Yoshi-P was later joined by Microsoft's Phil Spencer in a surprise announcement that an Xbox version of the game was coming soon.
In an update during Tokyo's Fan Fest, Yoshi-P told fans that there would be an open beta for the Xbox version of the game coming in April, but didn't specify a date. That date ended up being earlier than expected. The beta released in February, and an official date for the full version of the game was announced in early March.
When does the Xbox version of FFXIV release?
Final Fantasy XIV will fully release on Xbox X|S on March 21, just in time for players to settle in Eorzea before the next expansion, Dawntrail, releases. The FFXIV community will get much bigger now that the game will become even more accessible to potential Warriors of Light.
FFXIV first saw a console release on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, then released on the next generation's PlayStation 4 in 2014. Seven years later, the game saw an upgrade to the newest console in Sony's lineup, the PlayStation 5. While Windows had access to the game from the beginning, Microsoft's Xbox series of consoles had yet to see the game's release for multiple generations.
When asked about the status of an Xbox version in 2021 in an interview with EasyAllies, Yoshi-P explained that discussions with Microsoft were ongoing, and he was hopeful that players would get their hands on an Xbox version of the game. Supposedly there were holdups during meetings about the Xbox version not communicating with Sony's servers, disallowing cross-platform play and dividing the game's community. However, the fact that the beta launched early suggests that they were able to work out the kinks.
