John-ShepardAlthough it was initially announced as a PlayStation 3 console exclusive (it was going to PC, too, of course), many simply assumed that Final Fantasy XIV would eventually be confirmed for the Xbox 360.
After all, what with Square-Enix harping on a Western emphasis this generation and embracing the 360 in a variety of ways ( Final Fantasy XIII was available on Microsoft's machine), many thought FFXIV couldn't possibly remain exclusive. It is, though…but not for want of trying on the part of the veteran role-playing publisher. According to what the game's director, Hiromichi Tanaka, told 4players in a recent interview – and as translated by Final Fantasy Union – it was actually Microsoft that passed on the idea. Apparently, they only allowed FFXI on Xbox Live because it was in its infancy stages but now that it has become more established, they apparently don't need (or want) FFXIV. In the end, they were flat-out unwilling to put Square-Enix's new MMORPG on Live so that version was subsequently nixed. Obviously, there are two interesting facets to this: first, that if Square-Enix had its own way, FFXIV would've never remained exclusive and second, that Microsoft didn't think it worth having…
What this means for the future remains to be seen. Likely, it won't have much of an impact at all and S-E will continue to turn to Microsoft so as to expand their fan base. But we'll see.
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIV
