Square Enix "continuing talks" with Microsoft for Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV's new Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida has told RPG Site that the company is continuing to talk to Microsoft about the possibility of an Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIV despite the troubles the game has endured over the twelve months since its launch.

Previous Producer & Director Hiromichi Tanaka repeatedly told us that his team was talking to Microsoft and interested in an Xbox 360 version of the game prior to the game's launch, but Yoshida has now said that his team would also be interested in expansion - but they need to fulfill other promises made by Tanaka's team first.

"Like I mentioned before, the one thing to regain that damaged player trust is to keep those promises, and one of the promises was to release a PlayStation 3 version - we made that promise long, long ago, and we still haven’t kept it. We made that promise not only to the players, but to Sony as well," Yoshida told us this week in an interview about the game's upcoming 'Version 2.0'.

"The first thing that we need to do, to regain that trust, is to fulfill those promises of bringing the PS3 version. Our priority right now is getting that version finished."

"Currently, as stated in the road map, we’re designing a new graphics engine to replace the one that we have. This new engine will allow for play on broader environments. So [we’re] currently on high-spec machines only, but with this new engine, it will allow us to run the game on lower spec ones."

"Of course, because the game is developed on the PC, moving it to the Xbox 360 platform wouldn’t be that difficult, but as we said before, the thing we have to get done first is getting that PS3 version done. Once that’s done, we can take the next step from there. We are continuing our talks with Microsoft, but then you think, maybe next year Microsoft might be announcing their next hardware, and so our decision is do we wait for that next hardware? So we’re going to wait and see what’s happening after we delivered what we’ve promised."

Yoshida is clear that his team is currently preoccupied with fixing the game - but a version for Microsoft hardware is still clearly under consideration. A cross-generation launch wouldn't be unheard of - Final Fantasy XI was on PC, PS2 and Xbox 360. XIV could see a similar release.

Be sure to check out out full, massive interview with Yoshida through this link.