Welp, the Xbox version is dead in the water. What were they thinking?

[Moomba33]

Disappointing news.
I hope Sony doesn't start demanding PS+ for 14 after this. >_>

[Kitty_Cat]

I was waiting to see if this would happen, not surprised they elected to leave out this piece of information from the Official announcement we got a while ago.

As they both knew, SE and Microsoft, that this won't be popular.

In my country Xbox game pass Core is $12.95 NZD and Final Fantasy XIV's Entry subscription is 10.99 Euro which is $19.30 NZD, so I would have to pay $30.29 NZD for 30 days of this game.

I don't think so. I'd be paying almost double what PlayStation and PC/MAC and Steam players pay.
Infact I would be paying double and then some if I either had a Standard subscription which is 12.99 Euro or the Ultimate version game pass which is $21.95 NZD.

If I remember correctly when I played Final Fantasy XI Online on my PlayStation2 and SE finally added the Xbox 360 version, and I got that at the time, they did not force us to have Xbox Live Gold to play.
*Ah yes, you could use Xbox Live Silver, no charge.

I really wanted to play this on my Xbox along with my PC, but since I don't already have a Game Pass, I will pass on this.

The only people this doesn't affect is Xbox Core or Ultimate pass users and I feel this is actually what played a part in this decision, as if you already are one of those people this won't matter as you'd still need to pay the monthly Final Fantasy XIV subscription anyway.

[RitsukoSonoda]

Disappointing news.
I hope Sony doesn't start demanding PS+ for 14 after this. >_>

If the PS version of FFXIV doesn't require PS+ then it probably doesn't need anything from Sony's backend to function.

Microsoft has had a history of wanting to stick their fingers into every pie they can find which likely includes requirements for SE to utilize part of the XBL net structure setup for their consoles just to have them connect to the game server. That was the biggest hurdle in getting FFXI on the 360 and I also believe part of the reason why they dropped that version later. I also recall Microsoft in the past refusing to allow titles on xbox consoles if the developers didn't put a minimum amount of achievements in the game which resulted in a fair amount of titles that could be used for gamer score fluffing because players could get all the achievements in them in a matter of an hour or 2.

[DiaDeem]

So... there's something I don't quite understand, mainly because I haven't owned an XBOX since the 360 but... is Live Gold still a thing? Does this mean you need GamePass but not Gold? Or are they the same thing nowadays? If it's on GamePass, does that mean XBOX users never have to buy the game or the expansions and just access the game as long as they're subbed? Can you play without Gold as long as you have GamePass?

[Nebelheim]

So... there's something I don't quite understand, mainly because I haven't owned an XBOX since the 360 but... is Live Gold still a thing? Does this mean you need GamePass but not Gold? Or are they the same thing nowadays? If it's on GamePass, does that mean XBOX users never have to buy the game or the expansions and just access the game as long as they're subbed? Can you play without Gold as long as you have GamePass?

I think the gold subscription was renamed the game pass.

[RitsukoSonoda]

So... there's something I don't quite understand, mainly because I haven't owned an XBOX since the 360 but... is Live Gold still a thing? Does this mean you need GamePass but not Gold? Or are they the same thing nowadays? If it's on GamePass, does that mean XBOX users never have to buy the game or the expansions? Can you play without Gold as long as you have GamePass?

Not sure. I have an XB One which I purchased just to play PSO2 when it finally got a release outside Japan and I don't recall needing to purchase any kind of additional subscription to play it. (I also got that Jedi game with it as it's free game). However it was Microsoft apparently that pushed for that release so they're probably getting a cut of all the microtransactions the game generates.

The other thing that seems to be going around is that Microsoft is supposedly finally admitting defeat in the "console wars" as they are apparently in the process of getting all their "exclusive" titles they kept off playstation on to the PS5.

[ReynTime]

freelancers are still very much at there disposal

Not exclusively. And while Yoko Taro's past success justifies putting a whole team together, Matsuno's involvement with SE after Final Fantasy XII's tumultuous development was writing scenario for side content in XIV. He left SE for a reason.

[DrForester]

XBox has pretty much been a subscription console since the original with XBox Live.

This is an awful precedent to set, but I honestly wonder how many XBox owners it will actually impact at this point.

[Supersnow845]

Not that I really want to let square enix off the hook but Microsoft is pushing “every Xbox owner should have gamepass” that this really doesn’t surprise me

I’m assuming Microsoft is coming from the angle of “they probably already have gamepass so really they are just paying for the 14 subscription” and square doesn’t really care either way

[Jeeqbit]

It was dead in the water anyway. Most people who want to play the game already are. The announcement of the Xbox version to an audience of people who already play on other platforms said it all.

There may be some new players over time who play exclusively on Xbox who can't bring themselves to buy a desktop computer/laptop for some reason, but I don't think there will be this gigantic rush that is being imagined.

two subscriptions are required to play on the Xbox unless you're on the Free Trial...

Are you sure two will be required? What if SE gets their cut of the Gamepass fee?

I wouldn't be surprised if this is discontinued after a time.

I don't think so. It's an option, even if not many take it up. It's probably trivial to maintain it provided Xbox can support graphics improvements on par with the Playstation, because they already have support for gamepads of various types.