FFXIV Mobile is doing poorly, global release likely shelved

[RedLolly]

Last major update was November, with 2.4's content up to final coil.

The producer of the mobile version has said it's operating at a loss and any plans for a global launch is shelved because they simply don't have the money. They may not even finish ARR.

Also, their housing system is a buggy mess that stole millions of gil from F2P players and the devs apparently can't fix it.


So, here's a prayer that SE yanks their vastly superior glam system at least.



But this actually tosses a wrench in the half-confirmed Switch 2 version. If Mobile is on life support already, then it's RETAIL that's getting ported?

God, April can't come fast enough.

[Connor]

Can’t imagine it’ll change anything at all for us considering they’ll just put the entirety of the blame on the company that developed it for them.

[RedLolly]

One thing that's nuts to me is the main theory behind it bleeding money is because it's too F2P friendly, so the average Chinese gamer doesn't feel beholden to keep playing and spending money.

The exact opposite mentality most Western gamers have towards F2P games. Wild.

[Connor]

One thing that's nuts to me is the main theory behind it bleeding money is because it's too F2P friendly, so the average Chinese gamer doesn't feel beholden to keep playing and spending money.

The exact opposite mentality most Western gamers have towards F2P games. Wild.

Yeah that does sound pretty strange. From what I saw of it I think a lot of the cosmetics and glamour stuff has microtransactions too? I wonder if it’s a maybe a case of ‘the microtransactions don’t feel worth paying real money [since they’re largely cosmetic based]’.

Which I mean, yeah I’d prefer that personally over something aggressively monetised, IE having a tiny stamina bar for every activity but you have to pay to recharge it lol. Which I’ve seen in almost every game mobile game to some extent.

Although that makes me wonder; if the mobile game was released globally / in the west but designed the exact same, would it still be struggling as much? It could be as much a cultural thing as a problem with the game itself, in terms of how people approach that sort of thing. Like maybe western players are more likely to value cosmetics over things that affect gameplay?

[Jeeqbit]

This is really surprising to me, because the developers of the mobile version seemed really good at developing. You know? They were implementing things and improving things that Square Enix itself hasn't spared a single minute thinking about for 13 years. And they were doing it fast (because it literally doesn't take long to improve half the issues in this game from a programming perspective and they either overcomplicate it or Yoshi-P does not give them approval).

So them falling apart over bugs and issues wasn't on my bingo card.

I don't know if they needed this overly-restricted housing system from a technical standpoint. As we've all said for years, many MMOs manage unlimited houses in various ways. Maybe it goes to show that if you copy a bad design then it can only lead to bad things.

They really should just do something quick to increase monetization in China specifically if they prefer pay-to-win over there, then launch worldwide and use different rules outside China that aren't pay-to-win, so it works with the culture and preferences of different regions.

[Connor]

They really should just do something quick to increase monetization in China specifically if they prefer pay-to-win over there, then launch worldwide and use different rules outside China that aren't pay-to-win, so it works with the culture and preferences of different regions.

From what I remember isn’t this usually how Global vs CN/JP releases are handled? To some extent, at least. I’ve played a few mobile games that I remember had ‘things released for global that weren’t in other versions’ or that sort of thing. Makes sense if people in the region are approaching things differently (I.E favouring pay to win over free-to-play friend but with cosmetic microtransactions)

[Astronis]

But this actually tosses a wrench in the half-confirmed Switch 2 version. If Mobile is on life support already, then it's RETAIL that's getting ported?

If Square was talking about a Switch 2 release, wouldn't that mean, by necessity, it was the version Square still develops?

[TeresaFortell]

Not as if it were released globally. As it is only released in the CN region at the moment, it might just not have a global version anytime soon. I doubt they would shelve it, considering how popular mobile games are in CN.

[Daralii]

If Square was talking about a Switch 2 release, wouldn't that mean, by necessity, it was the version Square still develops?

It would depend on what their agreement with Lightspeed/Tencent looks like. If it was something along the lines of Lightspeed making it and maintaining the Chinese version while Square takes their work and handles localization and publishing in other regions, it would line up with other examples I can think of, including porting to other platforms.

[Astronis]

It would depend on what their agreement with Lightspeed/Tencent looks like. If it was something along the lines of Lightspeed making it and maintaining the Chinese version while Square takes their work and handles localization and publishing in other regions, it would line up with other examples I can think of, including porting to other platforms.

That would be...very convoluted, but possible I suppose! I don't have a Switch 2, but if I did, I'd have some interest in a FFXIV retail port to it, but less than zero interest in a mobile port, so clarity on that would matter.