Do Square Enix’s “Big Plans” For Switch Involve Final Fantasy XIV?

There’s been a lot of support for the Nintendo Switch as of late. The booming console has been selling out, breaking records, and arguably most importantly, been selling a ton of software from both 1st and 3rd parties. Because of that, many 3rd parties are pledging their loyalties to the system. One of which is Square Enix, who have already promised titles to the system both set and unknown. But, one of the biggest questions remains, will they bring over Final Fantasy XIV to the system?

The story so far is this, Square Enix made it known that they were talking to both Nintendo and Microsoft about bringing FInal Fantasy XIV over to their systems. With the caveat that they would only do so if they felt it could be done in the right way. There’s only been minor chat about it since. But, during a recent investor report, Square Enix president and representative director Yosuke Matsuda said this:

“We base our development resource allocations on the unique attributes of each platform. In particular, Nintendo Switch makes it easier for us to leverage our back catalog of assets and expertise, so we want to be proactive in creating new IP and rebooting past titles for that platform”

Now, while that does sound like they’re focusing more on new games instead of porting old ones, the line about “leverage our back catalog” could refer to Final Fantasy XIV, after all, it isn’t exactly a new game. Not technically.

A Nintendo platform has never had an MMORPG before. They’ve had a variety of MMO-like titles, including some like Xenoblade Chronicles X which expanded the connectivity fo players. But, nothing ever truly like an MMORPG.

There are many who hope the game does come to the system. For a portable MMORPG on the scale of XIV would be truly wondrous to behold. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what they do.