Director confirms Final Fantasy 14 Switch 2 port, but MMO game could tax handheld's specs

Nintendo fans may be focusing on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy coming to the console. However, another entry from the legendary Square Enix franchise is also on the way. Answering a New Year’s Q&A, Final Fantasy 14 Director Naoki Yoshida verified earlier reports about a Switch 2 version. However, porting the subscription-based MMO will introduce unique challenges.

A Final Fantasy 14 announcement without much fanfare

BlackmoreKnight on Reddit machine-translated comments made by Yoshida on a Japanese blog. When asked about a Final Fantasy 14 Switch release, he said, “Please look forward to it.”

Considering Yoshida’s previous statements about the MMO, the news is not surprising. At Gamescom in August, the Square Enix stalwart revealed that he wanted to bring “Final Fantasy 14 and 16 to as many players as possible.” Yoshida then addressed FFXIV specifically as a Switch 2 game, explaining that it would appeal to a younger audience.

In the summer, conversations about releasing the port with Nintendo were already ongoing. Still, other remarks made by “Yoshi-P” may hint that a Switch 2 game would have limitations. He suggested that players could engage in “gatherer and crafter content” on the handheld. On the other hand, completing the main story and participating in raids may be more comfortable on PCs.

How FFXIV might perform on the Switch 2

Nintendo’s latest console is more welcoming to resource-hungry third-party titles. Naoki Hamaguchi has said that DLSS upscaling makes optimizing the Final Fantasy 7 remakes less troublesome. Yet, Final Fantasy 14 can also be CPU-intensive, particularly when many characters appear simultaneously.

Although the portable console offers a larger 7.9-inch LCD screen, crowded UIs can pose problems. Developers may need to scale back the overwhelming options to benefit readability.

Storage space for a constantly evolving MMO is also a concern. After Dawntrail and other expansions, PC users often have to devote well more than 100GB to installations. Whether Final Fantasy 14 arrives as a mobile companion to other platforms or a standalone experience on the Switch 2 remains to be seen.