The 14th chapter of the Final Fantasy role-playing series is due out 2010 for the PlayStation 3. It will be a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG). A PC version of the game will also be released.
Final Fantasy XIV, previously codenamed Rapture, was first mentioned in August 2005, when Square Enix announced they had begun working on a new MMORPG, but neither confirmed nor denied that it was a sequel to Final Fantasy XI, or that it was Final Fantasy-related. Hiromichi Tanaka, producer of the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, stated in April 2006 that developers are working to make Rapture a worldwide release. He announced in February 2007 that the game was being developed for the Xbox 360 and for personal computers running the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. He also stated that it might be brought to the PlayStation 3 as well. Square Enix announced at GDC 2008 that the new MMO will indeed target the PlayStation 3 and Windows operating system, and hinted that Mac and Linux clients are not out of question. The game will utilize the Square Enix-created graphics engine called Crystal Tools and is being developed by the same team working on Square Enix's current MMO title, Final Fantasy XI.
On June 2, 2009, at the Sony E3 Conference, Final Fantasy XIV Online was announced for the PlayStation 3, with a trailer reminiscent of the intro to Final Fantasy XI. The trailer is said to be a mixture of pre-rendered CGI and actual in-game sequences running off of the Crystal Tools engine. Later that day it was confirmed that it will also be released on PC. It is expected that Final Fantasy XIV is indeed Rapture. The game will be produced by Tanaka and directed by Nobuaki Komoto. Akihiko Yoshida is the art director, and Nobuo Uematsu is composing the music. The game will be cross-platform and will have cross-platform servers between PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows, making all servers accessible from any country. Square Enix has hinted that they are considering developing a version for 'Microsoft hardware'. The game is being developed to be playable by a more casual audience, as well as still supporting the more party-oriented audience. It was announced that the battle system will be different than the one previously used in Final Fantasy XI, and that the character races will resemble those found in Final Fantasy XI.
The developers have confirmed there will be a beta period for FFXIV Online; however, the exact time frame has not been specified. In a June 7, 2009 interview by Japanese gaming site, Dengeki, FFXIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka commented, "We're still undecided, but expect an announcement soon!" when asked about a date for beta testing. The game is currently scheduled for a 2010 release, but an exact date has yet to be specified.
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