Please consider dropping PS3 sooner rather than later.

[adn]

Here is the catch that I think people don't understand: Most Japanese players do not own what would conventionally be called a "gaming" PC. The PC market in Japan isn't really a thing at all. It's kind of there but it is vanishingly small compared to the handheld/console market.

The PS3 launch of FF14 was instrumental in getting the Japanese players on board with ARR. It may seem like a very questionable decision now, but no small part of the game's success in Japan is owed to it being available for console players. Because like it or not, that is their market in Japan. One of the primary reasons 1.0 failed in Japan was lack of a console version; it was PC version or nothing

They would need to offer PS3 players a very big incentive to move to PS4 or PC; it's not OK from a business perspective to just suddenly turn to a chunk of your playerbase and say "sorry, you need to buy a $399 hardware upgrade now to keep playing the game."

[Alahra]

They would need to offer PS3 players a very big incentive to move to PS4 or PC; it's not OK from a business perspective to just suddenly turn to a chunk of your playerbase and say "sorry, you need to buy a $399 hardware upgrade now to keep playing the game."

They are likely to continue PS3 support in Japan longer than they do in other regions just for this reason. PS2 support for FFXI continued in Japan for longer there than it did in North America/Europe. I wouldn't be surprised if the next expansion has PS3 support in Japan but not for other regions, with it being phased out entirely by 5.0 (or at the latest, 6.0, but I think that's pushing it even considering FFXI's example--it didn't completely drop PS2 support until 2013).

[Gilraen]

...considering FFXI's example--it didn't completely drop PS2 support until 2013).

Which is still incorrect, Adoulin was released for the PS2 in Japan, you can see this in the supported consoles of the official Adoulin page for Japanese audiences. Click the Japanese flag at the top if it loads as another language. This isn't to say they aren't dropping consoles, but it certainly wasn't in 2013. To expand on why bother with consoles at all... it's a matter of cost. 1.0 needed, at the time, the absolute best PCs to run it at it's almost-best (needed a Crysis-rated gaming PC for the best performance). Average people usually save up to buy such a system a piece at a time or just buy a piece here and there to upgrade an existing system. Consoles, though, don't have the same overhead as a PC. They are designed to work with the average TV and don't tax an electric bill quite as bad. Honestly, the only people who think getting a gaming PC is just a matter of... getting a gaming PC are also people with disposable incomes of 'dubious source'.

[Alahra]

Which is still incorrect, Adoulin was released for the PS2 in Japan, you can see this is the supported consoles of the official Adoulin page for Japanese audiences.

I could have sworn that's when they dropped it, but I'm probably misattributing that to the end of official support in NA. I know they're in the process of phasing it out completely at least, but I haven't kept up with the news all that well so I probably just got my memory muddled.

[Colorful]

Here is the catch that I think people don't understand: Most Japanese players do not own what would conventionally be called a "gaming" PC. The PC market in Japan isn't really a thing at all. It's kind of there but it is vanishingly small compared to the handheld/console market.

The PS3 launch of FF14 was instrumental in getting the Japanese players on board with ARR. It may seem like a very questionable decision now, but no small part of the game's success in Japan is owed to it being available for console players. Because like it or not, that is their market in Japan. One of the primary reasons 1.0 failed in Japan was lack of a console version; it was PC version or nothing

They would need to offer PS3 players a very big incentive to move to PS4 or PC; it's not OK from a business perspective to just suddenly turn to a chunk of your playerbase and say "sorry, you need to buy a $399 hardware upgrade now to keep playing the game."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most Japanese people tend to stray away from consoles nowadays? Mobile seems to be the larger focus (the reason why you see more and more Japanese developers focusing on mobile) and the PC gaming market is still quite small, but it is growing exponentially when compared to the minuscule numbers it was at a few years ago. Regardless of all that, we don't know how man actually play on PS3 or PS4, but I'd imagine PS3 is quite a small number making less than 5-10% of the population, at least half of which would move towards PS4 or PC when forced to. Why? Because if they made up anywhere near 20%+ Yoshida would never suggest dropping PS3 support, at least until it the numbers dropped enough for them to consider the sacrifice the worth in sub numbers (or if they PS3 was a really major block in them developing something they haven't announced yet).

I believe the majority of Japanese players have moved towards PS4 or PC at this point, I can't speak from my experience as I only know two Japanese players but that's two out of 300,000+ (they use PC though), but if they're able to afford it there's absolutely no reason not to go for the vastly better experience. Finally, they're not going to just suddenly turn and tell them to spend $400 or quit playing, it would need to be told several months in advanced, at least 4-6 months before the 4.0 if they plan to drop it then.