FFXI on Switch 2?

The Switch 2 is a fairly weak platform, and most mmorpgs (including ffxiv probably) would never work well on it. However it is a massive platform, and given its size any mmorpg on it would have a huge advantage.

XI was made for PS2 and controller and still has fairly low requirements to run (the point you can run 6 instances or more on a very humble computer), and I'm sure it would not require a massive a amount of work to port over to it.

Is a version of FFXI for the Switch 2 a possibility? Is it something YoshiP would consider investing in?

I mean, it could have run on the switch 1 or any other console released since the xbox 360. Heck, the switch 2 would play FFXIV just fine, and even the original probably could have (main issue is actually storage). But it doesnt seem like SE is interested in even bringing FFXIV to new platforms anymore, much less XI.

Ever since the PS4, all modern consoles use the same instruction set architecture (x86) as PCs! This includes PS5, Switch, X-Box and even Switch 2.

Given that Microsoft is no longer making XBox hardware, they have made a deal with Steam to expand their library of games for Game Pass customers. Steam Deck is also doing OK and could be the next "home game console".

But basically, this is just another PC!

It looks like the next "game console" will basically be a "game PC" that you put in your living room. If this does happen, the there is NO REASON that FFXI cannot run on such a console! :D

How cool is that???!!!

(I personally love, love, love Sony and Nintendo gaming consoles, but the trend seems to be that everything is going becoming more and more PC-compatible)

It would be a great idea for them to do it honestly (I saw it suggested on twitter originally by a JP player), it would be very popular in japan specifically. XI would be perfect for the platform and kind of players who enjoy it (retro JP game enjoyers), it's from the "golden era" of the company and it's not hard to port over due to the low system requirements and control systems.

It seems like the perfect idea to me. It's not something the XI developers would do themselves, but there are plenty of people in BD3 that could port it over and given the crossover with XIV currently it's a perfect time to do it.

They ported XI to Xbox360 easily back in the day, and they did it inhouse.

There is no way it would not be a successful venture, and make money.

What I'm trying to say is there is nothing for SE "to port". FFXI already runs on PC and steam deck right? So when Microsoft/Steam create the next home console, it will run PC games (unless Microsoft locks it down, which is very possible).

Does this make sense? All current-gen game consoles are just proprietary gaming PCs. From a technical perspective, they can run FFXI right now, but we would need a functioning Windows on those machines, which is why I mentioned the Microsoft/Steam partnership.

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Originally Posted by Gwydion

Ever since the PS4, all modern consoles use the same instruction set architecture (x86) as PCs! This includes PS5, Switch, X-Box and even Switch 2.

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Switch and Switch 2 use ARM processors, not x86.

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Originally Posted by Catmato

Switch and Switch 2 use ARM processors, not x86.

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You are right. I was mistaken, thinking of Switch Emulation running on a PC ...but technically, my point still stands. While there would still be some porting to do in the case of Switch, Switch emulation being so performant and reliable on x86 PCs, I wouldn't expect the overhead in doing this conversion to be so high.

Yoshida at one point expressed interest in FFXIV being on the switch, but the biggest issue was the lack of storage on the console (The SD card is slower and wouldn't be great, it needs to be the faster flash storage)

Switch 2 solves this problem. Wh ile the internal storage isn't that much better, the Switch 2 uses a newer and vastly faster SD card standard (and the compatible SD cards are also more expensive, obviously) that would be suitable for this.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

Yoshida at one point expressed interest in FFXIV being on the switch, but the biggest issue was the lack of storage on the console (The SD card is slower and wouldn't be great, it needs to be the faster flash storage)

Switch 2 solves this problem. Wh ile the internal storage isn't that much better, the Switch 2 uses a newer and vastly faster SD card standard (and the compatible SD cards are also more expensive, obviously) that would be suitable for this.

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It will still be incredibly difficult to port XIV to the Switch 2, considering XI is part of XIV operations and is counted towards how much money and players it has porting XI to the Swtich2 would also help XIV on financial reports.

They could even setup servers just for Switch if cross play is a problem.

XI is way easier to port over than XIV.

They could just use Wine (Software) I suppose.

It's how I have been playing since 2010 on Linux. No Windows needed.

It's also how they do it for FFX|V for the macOS I believe, though via using a proprietary fork, which raises a fun(?) issue when running via Wine: It sees you are doing that, so it decides you are running it on macOS and so you need to have bought the game for macOS to be able to log in, unless you hide the fact that you are running it via Wine...

Wine (Software) also runs things on arm machines by the by, and seeing how poorly new Windows thingies support old Windows thingies... perhaps that's the way to go?

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Originally Posted by radar

It will still be incredibly difficult to port XIV to the Switch 2, considering XI is part of XIV operations and is counted towards how much money and players it has porting XI to the Swtich2 would also help XIV on financial reports.

They could even setup servers just for Switch if cross play is a problem.

XI is way easier to port over than XIV.

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Please stop pushing this nonsense. Yes both games are operated by the same division, but neither needs the other to justify its existence and it doesn't matter where the money comes from.

XI uses so little resources compared to games today that they could run the game in a virtual machine and it would still work fine. Don't even need to port it. And XIV? It's totally possible and it would certainly help them add some more players which they probably need right now with how lackluster the latest expansion is in the eyes of many of its players (I don't quite feel the same, but the feeling is pervasive throughout much of the playerbase)

On every financial report since 2016 any player numbers and money XI makes is counted towards XIV.

Perhaps the most important aspect, it cost $$$ to port games to other consoles. SE DOES NOT like spending money on XI specifically. 360, PS2, etc were shutdown due to "Hardware Limitations" so they can pave way to end major updates anyway........

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Originally Posted by radar

On every financial report since 2016 any player numbers and money XI makes is counted towards XIV.

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It doesn't "count towards IV" it counts towards Creative Business Unit 3. And this makes sense. It operates both. They may combine the others, but XI money isn't treated as XIV money any more than the other way around. You can not pin a particular dollar as coming specifically from either game, and im so sick of people pushing this narrative that XI players are simply funding XIV, just because they're lumped together on a financial report.

The game still costs money to operate and the money it makes pays for those costs.

And regardless, none of this is relevant to the topic of bringing either game to a new platform.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

It doesn't "count towards IV" it counts towards Creative Business Unit 3. And this makes sense. It operates both. They may combine the others, but XI money isn't treated as XIV money any more than the other way around. You can not pin a particular dollar as coming specifically from either game, and im so sick of people pushing this narrative that XI players are simply funding XIV, just because they're lumped together on a financial report.

The game still costs money to operate and the money it makes pays for those costs.

And regardless, none of this is relevant to the topic of bringing either game to a new platform.

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FFXI counts directly towards the success of XIV, every penny it makes and every player it attracts is directly counted towards XIV to boost it up in the eyes of share holders on every financial report. Even many of the staff work on both games, like the GM team, moderators, community teams and even server staff.

I don't know why you argue this when it's blatantly obvious to be the case, every single financial report proves it.

I'm not even saying it's a bad thing, I'm saying that helping XI be more successful helps XIV and so it should matter more to the company and share holders. XI is not a forgotten game that doesn't matter, it directly helps XIV and does matter.

If XI closed tomorrow, XIV would in effect lose 60k-70k subscribers and the millions of dollars the game makes a year from those players (on a very cheap dev cost game btw) on every financial report going forward.

That would 100% matter to share holders and the CEO because XIV is put on a pedestal as a success story, and it losing that number of players and money out of nowhere would be a big deal.

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FFXI counts directly towards the success of XIV,

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And XIV counts towards the success of XI. You have no point. By your own description it's just one number, so it doesn't matter what they label it as- it's all the same to investors. It's a single umbrella that contains both.

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If XI closed tomorrow, XIV would in effect lose 60k-70k subscribers and the millions of dollars the game makes a year from those players (on a very cheap dev cost game btw) on every financial report going forward.

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This is a gross overestimate of XI's contribution, and it really pales in comparison to what FFXIV takes in, so it really would not matter much at all if FFXI went offline tomorrow. And investors, who do not care anything about the specific content of the games or how beloved a game like XI might be to its fan base, probably would celebrate them shutting it down. Which, as we already know, was considered last year.

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I don't know why you argue this when it's blatantly obvious to be the case, every single financial report proves it.

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It's not blatantly obvious, and the financial reports prove nothing. CBU3 gets and spends its money how it wants. No individual dollar is identified as specifically coming from either game. Stop pushing this nonsense conspiracy that we're being "used" to' prop up FFXIV or something like that. You can hate on FFXIV all you want, but this is a pointless discussion. And again, NONE OF THIS HAS ANYTHING REMOTELY WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH THE TOPIC AT HAND. We are speaking of things we might want as fans, not of what will bring supreme financial success to SE.

All the money XI makes is directly counted towards XIV on financial reports, same for player numbers. This means XI hits above its weight and is far more important than it would be otherwise. Since XIV is important to share holders in financial reports.

I'm saying finding ways for XI make more money helps XIV, and how it appears to shareholders.

The money and player numbers of XI do matter towards XIV, in the same way the Steam version of XIV matters. Would they decide to remove XIV from Steam? XI makes comparable (probably more) money for XIV than the Steam version of XIV does for BD3 (comparable, if not more players and no 30% cut going to valve).

I know you're passionate about XIV and always find it annoying when I say this but it's obvious to be the case, because XI is never mentioned on any financial report and that is impossible unless it is part of XIV. They cannot leave it off when it costs money and makes money unless it's not a unique financial entity of BD3

Again I'm saying it's a good thing for both games, my original point was that investing in a switch2 port of XI is a very good idea and is a very good idea not just for XI.

Doing it for FFXI would require basically no work whatsoever unless you expected a major enhancement/overhaul. Like I said- They could go the incredibly cheap route of using a virtual machine or wrapper and the system would easily be able to handle an early 2000s game.