The current producer for Final Fantasy XI, Akihiko Matsui, celebrated the game’s fourteen year anniversary today by sharing a heartfelt message with the players. “These and other landmarks were successfully passed because of the unwavering support of you and your friends, party members, and linkshell mates, and I have nothing but gratitude for your patronage,” Matsui said to the players. The landmarks he was referring to were the termination of service for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 versions of the game as well as “the implementation of FINAL FANTASY XI’s ultimate storyline, Rhapsodies of Vana’diel.”
Final Fantasy XI has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but as one of the first, and longest running, large-scale MMOs, it’s also earned much adoration and appreciation from gamers around the world. With its original launch for Japan in 2002 and 2004 for North America, to see it alive and kicking today is an absolutely feat for both the development teams that have worked on the Final Fantasy XI as well as the player communities that have been established to keep a game they love alive.
FFXI is so well loved in fact, that Nexon is working with Square Enix to develop a mobile version of the game with the announced title of Final Fantasy XI Mobile. It is set to release for both iOS and Android and will run off the Unreal Engine 4.
Whatever the future may hold for the Final Fantasy series, it’s pretty amazing to see a game with such longevity still relevant today. Happy birthday to you Final Fantasy XI, you’ve taken many of our years and here’s hoping you take many to come. Have you given up on exp parties and limit break quests or have you stuck with it all these years through the king camps and Abyssea grinds? Leave a comment and let us know!
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