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Final Fantasy XI is finally winding down. The last storyline ever for the game has been released, and the developers have announced that console support for the PS2 and X-Box 360 versions will be ending in March or April of next year (PS2 support outside of Japan was ended a while back). PC players will be able to continue playing past that date. But there will be no new content patches.

But oddly enough, that won't be the end of Final Fantasy XI's world of Vanadiel.

Final Fantasy XI is a Japan-only mobile device game that was released earlier this year. It takes place in a chibi-fied version of FFXI's world. Additionally, Korean developer Nexon has contracted with Square-Enix to develop and release a worldwide free to play version of Final Fantasy XI that will only be available on mobile devices. Not much is known yet, including the all important issue of how Nexon intends to finance it. Presumably a micro-transaction model will be involved, but we don't yet know exactly what they'll be charging for.

They are pulling the plug on FFXI?

Now I am overcome by an indescribable sadness and feeling of melancholy. I used to play the heck out of that game on my PS2 back in the day. It was a decent game, but it had real, tangible flaws that never really got cleared up. It always felt like a Frankenstein mash-up of a turn-based JRPG and an MMO.

Still, the game let me play a Red Mage and wear the iconic feathered pimp hat, so I will always love it for that. I suppose I shall raise a glass in loving memory to my first MMO, before I go cry myself to sleep.

squidhills wrote:
They are pulling the plug on FFXI?
.

Sort of.

There will be no further content releases. And the ability to play on the X-Box 360 and PS2 will end at the end of March (PS2 play outside of Japan already ended when the last expansion was released). But the servers won't be shut down, and PC players will be able to continue to play until the subscriptions start to die out.