UPDATE: Don’t Worry, Gacha Is Not How Final Fantasy XIV Mobile Will Be Monetized

A day after the initial announcement, we know a bit more about the Final Fantasy XIV Mobile adaption as Yoshi-P continues to talk about the project. A 13-minute video uploaded on the mobile game’s YouTube channel and then shared as a translated version on IGN clarifies a few things for players.

Although, not everything. We’re sure some things will just be revealed over time. Still, there’s good news.

For instance, if, like one person I was talking to, you were worried that this project was Square Enix forcing Yoshi-P to do a mobile adaptation, it’s apparently something he’s been wanting to do but been afraid wouldn’t work due to the game’s size and mechanics. In fact, he says they nearly gave up on the idea altogether until Lightspeed Studios approached them about doing the work.

Of course, everyone’s been curious about the MMORPG’s monetization. Yoshi-P stated explicitly that the game will not have gacha mechanics. As stated in the translation shared by aitaikimochi on Twitter, the mobile version is designed with keeping mobile players engaged in mind. He states that the developers “want every single player to enjoy FFXIV as long as they can. Therefore [their] goal is to allow as many people to play the game as much as possible while only receiving just a bit of cash as monetization”. He ends by saying, “So please don’t worry about how much it’ll cost. I’ll be happy if you can just enjoy the game.”

Considering the Final Fantasy XIV store seems to do pretty well selling mounts, outfits, and other goodies to players, it might be a good guess that they’ll do something similar in the mobile version. We have to keep Yoshi-P in rings somehow.

We also now know that the story starts with A Realm Reborn.

If you’re worried that they just handed the game over to Lightspeed and let them just do what they wanted, the video details how the Final Fantasy XIV team worked with the mobile developer to ensure the game meets their criteria. Of course, things did have to be changed as mobile games are just played differently. They’re typically played in smaller sessions in between the player doing other things. Of course, the control input and screen size have an impact on how games function as well. This means group content will be different and the FFXIV team has tested it to make sure it meets standards. They’ve also overseen how the story is adapted for the mobile version of the game.

UPDATE 11/22/2024: Yoshi-P's video interview breakdown discussed above now has a version with official English translations so we've added that below.