Square: Final Fantasy XIV update won’t be new game

The major 2.0 Update for Final Fantasy XIV Online will release in 2012, Square Enix has announced, however users should not expect a new game.

The troubled MMO’s producer Naoki Yoshida has stated that while it is indeed a major update, including a new engine built from the ground up, the game will remain relatively unchanged.

“Players, community websites, and the gaming media may see the roadmap we have provided and take it as, ‘Oh, they’re creating a completely different game,’ but this is not the case,” he explained to Gamasutra.

“FFXIV will always be FFXIV and nothing else.”

Yoshida went on to say that since coming on to the project he has researched other popular MMOs for influence:

“…I went back and restudied the systems used by other MMOs offered worldwide, such as World of Warcraft and Rift.”

Between October and December 2012, the firm plans to integrate the current service and the upcoming PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIV, at which point a second free trial period will be offered.

Following this, there will be a complete reworking of in-game maps, which will include a switching-over period to a new client and servers before service is brought back online. Afterward, new software for the PC version will be made available onilne for free. Character data will remain preserved throughout this.

The firm has previously acknowledged the possibility of bringing its MMO to PlayStation Vita and Xbox 360, however whether headway has been made has not been announced.