Final Fantasy 14 Mobile will officially begin with the tale of A Realm Reborn, inviting new and returning players to experience the modern FFXIV story from its “rebooted” beginning. Per game producer and director Naoki Yoshida, players will be able to experience chunks of the game’s story gradually, with more content added regularly, based on player progression and feedback.
“Players who are already familiar with Final Fantasy 14 will be able to relive the story on mobile, while newcomers will have the opportunity to embark on a new adventure and experience the narrative in its entirety,” Yoshida said in a new promo video.
The release of new content will begin slowly, likely to avoid overwhelming new players. To date, Final Fantasy 14 has five major expansions, each adding in dozens of hours of new storylines, lore, quests, and collectibles. It makes sense to roll this content out slowly, to ensure players are able to absorb each chapter, rather than feeling like they must devour it all at once.
Per Yoshida, there is a “vast” amount of narrative already developed for Final Fantasy 14 Mobile, but a “steady pace” for release is important. There is a release schedule planned, but this will reportedly be adjusted as players join the game, to ensure the cadence is appropriate, and everyone is able to make the most of each chapter before moving on.
Read: Final Fantasy XIV Mobile officially revealed in debut trailer
As some will note, there is one quirk to beginning this mobile game with A Realm Reborn – it’s not technically the beginning of the Final Fantasy 14 story. That arrived with the original, much-maligned 1.0 version of the game, which was eventually supplanted by A Realm Reborn. Most modern players never had the chance to experience the tales within, although these do have connections to some of the plots and lore of the game.
Regardless, players should be able to play and understand Final Fantasy 14 even beginning with A Realm Reborn. Speaking as someone who began with this chapter, the MMO does a great job of easing you in, illuminating the importance of its world, and outlining the key players. There should be very few teething issues with starting in this chapter – and more to the point, Square Enix appears very keen to induct new players with this mobile release, so it should be very approachable from launch.
As previously noted, Final Fantasy 14 Mobile will be released to iOS and Android devices in China first, as this is one of the largest mobile game markets in the world. Following these playtests, the game will launch worldwide. It isn’t dated just yet, but we can likely expect it sometime in 2025.
