If you’re wondering why you never got a version of Final Fantasy XI to play on the PlayStation 3 (back in the years when the PS3 was a relevant console), it turns out that ties back to Final Fantasy XIV. A new interview on the former game’s anniversary site We Are Vana’diel features an interview with producer Akihiko Matsui of FFXI and Yutaka Kawamata of Nobunaga’s Ambition Online; the latter has upgraded to newer consoles, while Matsui explains that FFXI wasn’t considered due to technical limitations:
For FFXI, it was already decided it would be succeeded by [FFXIV], so a PS3 version of FFXI was not considered. Even if we’d decided to make a port of the game, overhauling the graphics and other aspects would result in a development cost similar to creating a completely new title. Either way, we would’ve preferred to make a proper PS3 version rather than a half-hearted effort, but at the time, that position was given to FFXIV. So instead of trying to keep up with the latest trends and modern advancements, we passed on that role to FFXIV and adopted our current focus of staying in service as long as we can for players who are still enjoying FFXI.
The full interview contains plenty of interesting tidbits about the development history for these two MMOs that premiered on the venerable PlayStation 2, so it’s worth checking out the whole thing. It’s also worth considering that if you’re looking for a new place to have your Zoom meetings, that could also include Vana’diel with new free backgrounds offered by the game’s team for players to use in video conferences. If you want to come to people live from Zi’tah, it’s a good option.
