Final Fantasy XIV 2.0 is still FFXIV and "nothing else", says Square

Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida has said the MMO, which is scheduled for an upgrade to 2.0 in 2013 with a new engine, is still FFXIV and not an entirely new game.

Speaking with Gamasutra, Yoshida said one of the first steps he took when became the game's new producer, was look at the service system along with community and game content to try and figure out what "would be necessary" if the game were to continue another 10 years. To get a better idea of this, he studied the systems implemented by other MMOs such as Rift and World of Warcraft.

Yoshida said he found that in order for the game to run smoother and provide a better experience to users, it needed a new engine.

"A key development on the technology side is the new engine that will be rolled out for the version 2.0 launch which we are building from the ground up," he said. "Why build something from the ground up when it already exists? Well, the current engine we are using is good for showing ‘passive graphics’ in offline games, but the most important thing an MMO needs is an ‘active graphics’ capable of showing many, many different characters on the screen simultaneously.

"This is simply too difficult to accomplish with the current engine."

Final Fantasy XIV turned a year old in September, and due to a considerable number of issues, Square hasn't charged a subscription fee for the MMO. The company plans to start charging customers either this month, or in December.

The MMO, which missed its initial PS3 launch, will arrive on the system during Q3 2012.