Xbox server policies make for "weak" communities, says Final Fantasy 14 developer

Final Fantasy 14 probably won't be making the jump to Xbox One because of the platform's closed community policies, according to director Naoki Yoshida.

"I personally don't like saying no to anything, and I'd like to keep that option open," Yoshida told Polygon of the possibility of an Xbox One release now that the MMORPG has been confirmed for PlayStation 4 as well as PC

"We want this game on as many systems as possible and get the game into the hands of as many players as possible, so we won't say that we won't do it.

"But if we published to Xbox One right now, it would essentially be an Xbox only community."

Yoshida pointed out, quite reasonably, that the Xbox community is tiny in Japan, and given that Japan is the franchise's strongest territory, there're just not enough players to support the game - especially as Microsoft's Xbox platform policies do not allow cross-play with other consoles.

"Maybe you only have a few thousand people who maybe really love Final Fantasy and are playing the Xbox version," he said.

"But because it's a closed community, you only have this tiny community that is not allowed to play with the rest of the world, and you worry how you're going to retain that community. An MMO is built on its community, and if it's weak, then what is the point?"