Final Fantasy XI marks a great departure from its predecessors. The Playstation 2 game will be a completely online massively-multiplayer game spanning multiple platforms. Final Fantasy 11 was announced with Final Fantasies 9 and 10. We know that it will be based online, and users will be able to play free at first, but later will have to pay a fee each time they play. Users in Japan, the US, and overseas will be part of the same online world; the language barrier will be eliminated by using easy-to-understand icons to communicate. We'll keep this section updated with all of the latest Final Fantasy 11 news, media, and information.
Square confirms that Final Fantasy XI will support both broadband and dialup connections. Not only will Playonline be able to support both types of connections, the network will also be able to provide service to several hundred thousand people simultaneously. On the heels of this news, Square announced the game's beta testing will begin in November, in preparation for a March 2002 release date in Japan. As an added bonus, there will also be an expansion to Final Fantasy XII which will incorporate it directly with Final Fantasy XI. The nature of this expansion is unclear, but this marks the first time in the series that an add-on will be available for one of the games. On the financial side of things, Square is showing optimism on the profitability of Final Fantasy XI, reducing their projected break-even point from 480,000 to 300,000 subscribers. Additionally, pricing for the game has been tentatively set at 6000 yen, with a 1200 yen yearly subscription to PlayOnline. Hironobu Sakaguchi confirms rumors that Final Fantasy XI will indeed see a multi-platform release, ending four years of Square-Sony exclusivity. The game will still be released first for the PlayStation2 and PC, so don't expect other consoles to have the title right away. This still comes as great news to anyone planning on picking other systems than the PlayStation2. Final Fantasy XI is scheduled for a release at some point next year. Sakaguchi hopes that eventually, users worldwide and across a variety of platforms will be able to play the game. This announcement brought that vision one step closer to reality. Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy, restates the previous plans for Final Fantasy XI 's multi-console capabilities. His thoughts on this have been recorded in a Los Angeles Times article regarding Squaresoft's plans to release FFXI on multiple systems. This has been the first time that Squaresoft has ever mentioned plans for games for Nintendo in the near future. Sakaguchi mentioned to the press that it is "certainly a possibility" that the fully online game, Final Fantasy XI, will be released on the Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft XBox. As the interview went on, Sakaguchi mentioned that he is very excited about Nintendo's new console. He stated that as Squaresoft is moving onto online games, it is essential that you equip the game on many different consoles for it to sell well. The releases of Final Fantasy XI for PS2 and PC are confirmed and its XBox release will come from Microsoft. It is also safe to say that there is enough information to confirm that FFXI will be coming to GameCube as well. Even after the amazing sales of Final Fantasy X, Square refuses to rest on its laurels, deciding instead to begin the hype-machine for Final Fantasy XI, the company's first foray into MMORPGs. After picking I-O Data as the network's Modem Developer of Choice, Square continued the barrage of information by uncovering its plans for getting their PlayOnline network up and running. Square hopes to begin the first stage of test operations for PlayOnline in Japan in mid-September with a select 500 players chosen to test the network's server. The second stage will begin in October with a final stage of playtesting Final Fantasy XI to begin in December, two months before the title's estimated official launch of March 2002. The PlayOnline network will be available for both Windows and Macintosh and, of course, any Playstation 2 with the recently-released hard disk drive installed. Although the exact cost of the service is currently unavailable, Square's server will be free of charge during its first month of availability before moving to a pay-per-play structure in April. Besides FFXI, gamers who use PlayOnline will be treated to an online version of Tetra Master, the card battle minigame of Final Fantasy IX. In addition to playing the highly-addictive card game against human opponents, gamers will be able to trade cards online and post their high scores to a ranking page. Although Enix and Namco have been reported as developing future content for the new network, no further details on their online gaming content have been released.