Following several other major AAA franchises that have made the jump to mobile,Final Fantasy 14is now getting its own mobile version set to launch sometime soon in China before making its way to the rest of the globe. Interestingly,Final Fantasy 14’s longtime director and producer Naoki Yoshida is set to oversee the production of the mobile version, which will see the popular MMORPG become available on the fastest-growing gaming platform worldwide. It’s a move that several publishers are investing in given the increasingly profitable mobile gaming space, and it now placesFinal Fantasy 14alongsideDestiny 2as two of the biggest AAA experiences coming to mobile in the next year.
Themobile offshoot ofDestiny 2,Destiny: Rising, was revealed just a month ago, and is being positioned as a companion experience toDestiny 2. Similarly,Final Fantasy 14 Mobilehas been announced as a “sister” game to the coreFinal Fantasy 14experience, with players already excited about the prospect of returning to the game in a state reminiscent of its 2013 relaunch asA Realm Reborn. Aside from both being hugely popular MMO titles,Destiny 2andFinal Fantasy 14are both set to be case studies of how each franchise will fare in the increasingly crowded AAA mobile space.
What Final Fantasy 14 Mobile and Destiny: Rising Communicate About Mobile Gaming
AFinal Fantasy 14mobile version is a welcome, if not expected, surprise, and along with the upcomingrelease ofDestiny: Risingcommunicates how important mobile is as a continually growing platform for AAA gaming. Previously relegated to simple touchscreen games and ports of older titles from previous console generations, the processing power of modern smartphones (combined with some impressive innovations in controls and peripherals) makes AAA gaming more viable than ever on mobile devices. And of course, recognizing the area as a potential for growth, several major publishers and hardware manufacturers are increasingly entering the mobile space.
Final FantasyandDestinymay be the two latest and most visible AAA franchises to make the leap to mobile, but it’s almost a guarantee that they won’t be the last. What remains to be seen about bothFinal Fantasy 14 MobileandDestiny: Risingis how each mobile game’s player counts compare to the PC and console versions, but recent success stories likeCall of Duty: Mobile,Fortnite’s mobile version, andDiablo Immortal(as well as massively populartitles likeGenshin ImpactandZenless Zone Zero) prove that mobile gaming is a frontier companies can’t afford to skip out on.
Final Fantasy 14 Mobile and Destiny: Rising Are Aiming to Deliver Different Mobile Experiences
Aside from both games being MMO titles,Final Fantasy 14andDestiny 2are very different games whose mobile versions will undoubtedly reflect that. Further, the approaches that both Square Enix and Bungie are taking toward the mobile spin-offs of their most popular franchises are charting their own unique course. WhereDestiny: Risingis a separate experience that takes place in an alternate version of the coreDestinytimeline,Final Fantasy 14 Mobileis intended to roll players back to the game’s relaunch courtesy ofA Realm Reborn.
It’s a bold approach on Square Enix’s part that seems to be taking a page fromWorld of Warcraftand its offering ofWorld of Warcraft Classic, using a mobile release as a way to accomplish two objectives. Not only willFinal Fantasy 14mark the first internally-developedAAA Square Enix gameon mobile, it also offers a stripped-down version of one of the most popular MMORPGs in an easy-to-access format.Final Fantasy 14experienced a bit of a dip in popularity in 2024 not unlikeDestiny 2, but both titles' mobile spin-offs could go the distance in terms of bringing players back into the fold.
