Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Release Window Confirmed for the Summer, PS4 Version Hinted, New Info Revealed

Giuseppe Nelva April 27, 2013 2:20 PM EST

The Nico Nico Chokaigi 2 event is in full swing at the Makuhari Messe Tokyo and Square Enix is holding a large Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn stage event in collaboration with Windows 8.

During yesterday’s part of the event livestreamed on Nico Nico quite a few interesting information were revealed as director and producer Naoki Yoshida (disguised as a white-haired miqo’te for the occasion) answered questions from the fans.

Here is a summary of the information that was shared (I may have missed something, but I think I got most of it. You can find further info from day two of the event here):

The game’s release window has been confirmed for this summer simultaneously for PC and PS3.

A release for the PS4 is very possible, as the team would like to reach an audience as wide as they can. A final decision will be taken when the time is right.

There will be new music created by Nobuo Uematsu (Yoshida already confirmed this when I recently interviewed him ).

There are plans to release the soundtrack. It may be part of the collector’s edition.

New TV commercials are in production for all the different markets: Japan, North America and Europe. They will debut in late May or early June.

The current phase of the beta includes approximately 580,000 people, and many more will be added with phase 3.

Yoshida can’t say when beta phase 3 will start exactly, as it depends on Sony’s certification of the PS3 client (Edit: This was rectified during day 2 of the event, as you can read here).

The new Benchmark software that will include character creation is in development and will be released between phase 3 and phase 4.

Square Enix is planning to release collectibles related to the game after launch.

A new organization called “Clan of Dawn” (Akatsuki no Ketsumei) will play an important role in the story of the new game. A new primary NPC named Alfino (Edit: an official transliteration had been provided, and his name will be Alphinaud) is a member of the clan and will be voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana (you can see the character’s portrait below).

Minfilia (a relevant character in the Ul’dah original storyline of Final Fantasy XIV, you can check my story recap column if you want to know who she is) will play a very relevant role in the storyline of A Realm Reborn.

Thancred (again, you can check my story recap column to learn about him) will be voiced by Yuichi Nakamura a very popular voice actor in Japan that lent his vocals cords to many relevant characters like Alto Saotome in Macross Frontier and Cid Raines in Final Fantsy XIII.

The final location of the Gold Saucer is still undecided.

A smartphone companion app will be released allowing players to access character status, a database, their friend list and features related to the Free Company.

The PvP Coliseum will be added during phase 4 of the beta, but all PvP points earned will be reset at release to be fair to those not participating to the beta test.

Even those that didn’t play the original Final Fantasy XIV will able to enjoy the story, that will be more similar to a classic Final Fantasy game.

At the beginning there won’t be Japanese-style costumes like Kimono, but when the visual style of the game will be solidified, adding different styles will be considered.