PlayStation 5 owners will be able to journey to Eorzea at the console’s launch next month, as Final Fantasy XIV has been confirmed backward compatible.
The news came from director Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida during today’s “Letter From the Producer” update. The PS5 has been said to be compatible with almost every PS4 game to date, and now Final Fantasy XIV has been confirmed amongst the 99% of current-gen titles available. Furthermore, the MMORPG is able to benefit from the PS5’s faster load times via SSD, and its PS4 Pro enhancements will be available, enabling 4K.
This may be a great time to try out Square-Enix’s long-running MMORPG, as its Free Trial has recently been expanded to include the first expansion, Heavensward. Trial players can play up to level 60 and through the first two major story arcs with most of the races and classes available. This content alone offers weeks of free playtime; beyond that, the later expansions – Stormblood and Shadowbringers – will be required.
Two more patches will be added to Final Fantasy XIV before the end of 2020. Patch 5.35 will arrive on October 12, bringing new Relic weapons and Resistance gear, a new quest in the Bozjan Southern Front line, and upgrades for Skysteel tools. Patch 5.4, “Futures Rewritten,” will be a more substantial update in December, featuring new main story quests, a new dungeon (“Matoya’s Reflect”), normal and extreme battles against the Emerald Weapon, and the final Eden raid, “Eden’s Promise.” Other miscellaneous changes will be implemented, like unspecified job balancing, more substance for Blue Mages, and an Explorer Mode, allowing players to freely explore dungeons for photo ops.
Yoshida’s video ended with a mixed bag of news: Fan Festival events have been canceled through February 2021, but “more information” will be provided on the game’s future that month. This is likely going to be confirmation of Final Fantasy XIV‘s next expansion, but time will tell.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently available on PC and PS4. (Read CGM’s review of Shadowbringers here.)
