Naoki Yoshida had given up on making FFXIV Mobile happen until Lightspeed came along

Square Enix toyed with the idea of making FFXIV Mobile for years, producer Naoki Yoshida said, but the hurdle of adapting its combat seemed insurmountable

Square Enix

Square Enix toyed with the idea of making FFXIV Mobile for years, producer Naoki Yoshida said, but the hurdle of adapting its combat seemed insurmountable – at least, until Lightspeed came along. Yoshida made the comments in a recent Q&A video Square Enix published and said Lightspeed’s expertise in the mobile space convinced the FFXIV team to give them a chance.

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FFXIV Mobile uses a virtual joystick and controller inputs, and one of the challenges involved in adapting the MMO’s combat for mobile devices was figuring out how to make all the inputs work in such a small area.

Yoshida said Lightspeed made numerous adjustments to job action inputs and altered every duty – FFXIV-speak for dungeons and big boss battles – so they play smoothly and naturally on mobile. Yoshida and FFXIV’s combat team tested these alterations extensively during alpha and beta development phases to ensure they played how the team envisioned. 

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He used The Navel’s extreme version as an example of high-level endgame challenges FFXIV Mobile includes, though he didn’t say whether the Crystal Tower Alliance Raid will turn up. Whatever isn’t in FFXIV Mobile at launch may drop in later, though. Yoshida said that, while FFXIV for PC and consoles remains Square Enix’s main priority, the plan is to eventually include additional expansions. How frequently these turn up depends on player feedback. Yoshida said they may maintain a consistent tempo of releases, or they could speed it up if things are going particularly well and players show interest.

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To start with, though, FFXIV Mobile is all about A Realm Reborn, and Yoshida said it recreates the original experience as closely as possible. A Realm Reborn has (in)famously rough pacing after the halfway point, though with Square Enix’s desire to help people enjoy FFXIV in small bursts, perhaps they’ll streamline it like they once did for the post-story quests.

There’s still no release date for FFXIV Mobile, though playtests open soon in China.