Square Enix and Tencent to team up on mobile game based on Final Fantasy XIV

• Chinese overseas licence approvals suggest a mobile game based on Final Fantasy XIV is in the works
• Square Enix and Tencent teamed up in 2018 and began work on "some projects"

Square Enix and Tencent are reportedly developing a mobile game based on Final Fantasy XIV, revealed via an overseas licence approval in China.

Niko Partners reported on the approval among 14 other overseas games granted licences last week, which include Second Dinner’s Marvel Snap, Nintendo’s Paper Mario: The Origami King, and mobile and PC versions of a Rainbow Six game to be operated by Tencent.

Massively multiplayer and making for mobile

Final Fantasy XIV is a 2013 MMORPG that’s still active today. It was developed and published by Square Enix as a replacement for a failed 2010 version of the game.

With over a decade on the market and myriad updates and expansions through the years, the 2013 version of Final Fantasy XIV has released on PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, but never before on mobile.

A Chinese licence approval specifically for mobile looks set to change that, all but confirming Final Fantasy XIV’s eventual launch on the portable platform - or at least a game based on the massively multiplayer title.

The Japanese games maker formed a "strategic alliance" with Tencent back in 2018 and later revealed that "some projects" were in progress. This mobile Final Fantasy XIV adaptation appears to be one such project, and obtaining a Chinese licence suggests all intentions are to see the title through to launch - unlike the duo’s cancelled NieR game.

Little else is currently known about the new Final Fantasy title, with no official word from Square Enix or Tencent.

However, its reported approval in China has brought this year’s total overseas game licences to 76 so far. That’s neck-and-neck with 2021’s 76 overseas approvals for the full year and far ahead of 2022’s 44 approvals.

2023 marked something of a return to form with 98 overseas games granted approval. Whether 2024 can ultimately match or surpass this figure remains to be seen.