Final Fantasy XIV is a subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida and released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Windows in August 2013, it replaced the failed 2010 version, with subsequent support for PlayStation 4 in April 2014, macOS in July 2015, PlayStation 5 in May 2021, Xbox Series X/S in March 2024, and Nintendo Switch 2 in August 2026. Final Fantasy XIV is set in the fantasy region of Eorzea, five years after the devastating Seventh Umbral Calamity which ended the original version. In the Calamity, the elder primal Bahamut escaped from his prison, an ancient space station called Dalamud, unleashing an apocalypse across Eorzea. Through temporal magic, the player character of the original version escaped, reappearing at the start of A Realm Reborn. As Eorzea cements its recovery, the player must fend off a reignited invasion from the Garlean Empire.
The original Final Fantasy XIV was a commercial and critical failure. Then-Square Enix President Yoichi Wada announced that a new team, led by Yoshida, would assume control and address the game's flaws. The new team both continued to develop and improve the original version, and secretly worked on a completely new replacement. This new game, codenamed "Version 2.0", used a new engine, improved server infrastructure, and revamped gameplay, interface, and story. The original version shut down in November 2012, followed by an alpha test for Version 2.0.
The relaunched game released to largely positive reception; critics praised its solid mechanics and progression, and commended Yoshida for an unexpected recovery. In the years since, it has been listed as one of the greatest games of all time. After a poor 2013 fiscal year, Square Enix attributed the 2014 return to profitability partly to the game's strong sales and subscriber base. By October 2021, it had gained over 24 million registered players and became the most profitable Final Fantasy game to date. Final Fantasy XIV has received regular updates since release, including six major expansion packs: Heavensward (2015), Stormblood (2017), Shadowbringers (2019), Endwalker (2021), Dawntrail (2024) and Evercold (2027). An adaptation for mobile devices was announced in 2024 but was cancelled in July 2026.
Gameplay Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG, featuring a open world where players can interact with each other and the environment. Players create and customize their characters for use in the game, including name, race, gender, facial features, and starting class. Unlike in the original release, players may only choose to be a Disciple of War or Magic as a starting class—Disciples of the Hand and Land are initially unavailable. Players must also select a game server for each character. While all supported languages are available on every server, data centers are located in specific regions (i.e., North America, Europe, Japan, and Oceania) to reduce latency between client and server, and players are advised to choose a server in their region. Regardless of server or language, players can use a large library of automatically translated game terms and general phrases, allowing players who speak different languages to communicate.
Interface
PC and home console versions use a unified user interface (UI) and control scheme allowing for any combination of keyboard, mouse, and game controller. On PC, the game defaults to drag and drop menus, whereas on the console versions, the default interface resembles the PlayStation 3's XrossMediaBar. This bar is used to access menus, maps, logs, and configuration options. The head-up display for both versions includes a message log, party status menu, mini-map, and action bar. The size and location of all UI elements may be customized.
Actions and battle commands differ between PC and console versions. The PC versions support both point and click and keyboard input for commands or macros. Macro commands are customizable sequences of actions that allow players to execute desired abilities at a specific time. The home console versions instead map the action bar and macros to the "Cross Hotbar"—sets of four icons arranged in a cross shape. These are the grouped and accessed through a combination of the shoulder buttons and the directional pad or the face buttons. Using each shoulder button to cycle through the cross sets, players have quick access to commands. This interface is also available to PC players who use controllers.
Character progression Players improve their characters by gaining experience points (EXP) and acquiring stronger equipment. After gaining enough XP, the character will "level up", improving their statistics, enhancing the character's performance, and often learning new actions. Primary sources of experience points in Final Fantasy XIV include completing quests, exploring instanced dungeons, participating in Full Active Time Events (FATEs), and slaying monsters in the world. Quests, including the "main scenario" questline, are generally short, specific tasks given to the player by non-player characters which reward items and EXP. Completing main scenario quests progresses the overarching plot of the game. Some quests are repeatable, either "daily" quests repeatable each day, or "Levequests", which consume "leve allowances" that the player slowly accrues over time. Dungeons often require multiple players to form a party to enter, but the Duty Support system enables the player to play certain dungeons alone, supported by computer-controlled party members. Some dungeons are for lower-leveled players to gain EXP quickly while others are for experienced players to collect rare items, equipment, and currency. The Duty Roulette system randomly assigns the player to an accessible dungeon, and once per day, awards additional bonus EXP scaled to character level on completion. FATEs permit large groups of players, whether or not they are in a party, to participate in a shared task in the world. These location-specific events include battles with notorious monsters, defending locations, escorting non-player characters, culling wildlife, and assaulting enemy fortresses, among other types. Finally, each enemy the player kills provides EXP, with further EXP available from the Hunting Log, for killing a fixed amount of specific creatures. At maximum level, character progression focuses entirely on acquiring stronger equipment, raising the character's "item level". This equipment can be gained through a variety of sources including endgame dungeons, crafting, raids, primal battles, and elite mark hunts.
In addition to these player versus environment (PvE) challenges, various forms of player versus player (PvP) combat exist in Final Fantasy XIV. The Feast was an arena featuring structured four-versus-four battles where a player could register with up to three teammates to challenge another four-person team. This mode was removed in patch 6.1, when it was replaced with Crystalline Conflict, which consists of two teams of five competing to seize control of and push a crystal which starts at the middle of the arena to each team's goal point. The second type, Frontlines, is a large battleground in which players form teams of up to 24 members. Teams are delineated by players' allegiance to one of three Grand Companies and the team which reaches the target number of points first wins the match. Multiple modes are available, each with differing locations and rulesets. Within the game, Frontlines is presented as an organized set of military exercises between the three nations with the ulterior goal of jockeying for dominance of regions rich in magical artifacts. The third type, Rival Wings, is a battle arena mode where players manipulate minion waves and pilot mechs to destroy enemy objectives. PvP matches grant unique currency separate from the main currency "Gil." The PvP currency may be exchanged to obtain exclusive items, including armor and weapons.
Battles and party system Players fight enemies using a combination of physical attacks, weapon skills, and magical attacks; these battles form the basis of party play in Final Fantasy XIV. Most battle content in the game requires parties of a specific size, including four players for dungeons and eight players for boss battles. The "Duty Finder" is an automated matching feature that sorts players into parties for selected content across different servers. The "Party Finder" is a bulletin board where players may recruit players from any server on their data center for any kind of content including dungeons, raid battles, FATE parties, and more. Members of a party fill traditional MMORPG roles like tank, healer, and damage dealer. Tanks draw the enemy's attention away from other party members who generally have weaker defense, healers use restorative abilities and support the party with damage and enhancing abilities, and damage dealers focus on attacking the enemy. Teamwork and strategy are required to defeat the strongest enemies. "Limit Breaks" are special abilities that can only be performed if members of the party excel at their roles.
Free Companies are player-run guilds, organized bands of adventurers under the auspices of one of the three Grand Companies of Eorzea. Free Company members may gain access to a shared company chest, a private chat channel, and Company Actions which are 24-hour buffs to certain aspects of gameplay, such as increased EXP gain or reduced gear damage. Free Company members may also pool their resources to purchase a house in one of the residential districts. In addition to decorating the house, players may use the grounds to grow unique items through the gardening system, train their chocobo companion, embark on airship expeditions, and purchase a private room for personal use. Linkshells are another form of in-game networking; whereas players may only belong in one Free Company, they may join multiple linkshells which act as private chat channels for interested sub-groups.
Armoury and job system Under the Armoury System, a character's equipped weapon determines the character class and players may change their class at will by changing weapons. Classes are divided into four disciplines: Disciples of War, masters of physical combat; Disciples of Magic, practitioners of the magical arts; Disciples of the Hand, crafters and handymen who synthesize and repair items; and Disciples of the Land, gatherers who collect resources from the environment. The Job System builds upon the Armoury System for Disciples of War and Magic. It allows access to powerful skills, magic, weapons, and armor exclusive to the job corresponding to that class. These jobs, many based on classic Final Fantasy character jobs, are more suited to party-based combat.
Game economy The virtual economy of Final Fantasy XIV is largely player-driven. The exchange of items is facilitated by retainers—non-playable characters who assist in selling items on the Market Board, gather items through ventures, and provide additional item storage. A small transaction fee for all sales serves as a gold sink to regulate the inflation of prices in the economy. Players of any class may contribute to the supply of the economy: Disciples of the Land acquire raw materials from gathering points throughout the game world; Disciples of the Hand craft the materials into useful items and equipment; and Disciples of War and Magic are able to procure rare materials through completion of dungeons and Treasure Maps. Players are also able to contribute by extracting "materia" from well-used equipment, which can then be used to improve the statistics of other equipment.