FFXIV will receive the first graphics update by the time the next expansion is released. Producer Naoki Yoshida has revealed improvements in the “next 10 years of Final Fantasy XIV“Segment of the February 18, 2022 Live broadcast Letter from the Producer.
Although the game has received many improvements and updates in terms of its visuals over the years, the team still calls this a FFXIV“graphics upgrade first” as a way to set expectations. Calling it “first” implies that “second” and more will follow, allowing the team to make changes in phases with testing. This development will continue until the 7.0 expansion is released. Yoshida also made it clear though that these upgrades will likely cause the game’s minimum required specs to change on PC. However, they won’t drop support for the PS4 version, at least through the 7.0 expansion. In fact, optimizations for the PS4 version are being made to allow players more control over their graphics settings. Similarly, the game will continue to support as many hardware specifications as possible for PCs.
The first FFXIV Graphics updates will target the appearance of the characters. This upgrade will include higher resolution textures, improved shaders, and lighting adjustments to improve the look of characters and equipment in the game. Yoshida showed some results from the first month they experimented with higher resolution textures and shaders, as well as experiments on improving lighting on characters. The results include a look at several player races in the game. He commented that the Lalafell characters are the most challenging to improve, because having their faces a few things that make things “more realistic” would be a definite benefit. Aesthetically, the team did not aim for the photorealism or extreme detail shown in many independent releases (Yoshida mentioned Horizon: Forbidden Westgraphic of as an example of something that would not be possible for FFXIV).
Check out the gallery below for photos from the presentation.
Yoshida also pointed out that FFXIV Graphics updates will also affect certain NPCs, who can be “rebuilt” to accommodate changes to things like lighting or animations. He mentioned a character, Teledji Adedji, who may receive updates due to his prominence in several key story cutscenes.
Some of the improvements will also extend to the map visuals, with additional light sources for certain areas to make places look more interesting or atmospheric. Final Fantasy XIV Graphics upgrade. Other improvements include better shaders for metal textures, better shading, and increased memory limits for areas to allow more objects to be placed in the same space. Even things like auto-generated grass will receive edits. Yoshida showed before and after test results for areas in the game from Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Yoshida is quick to emphasize that this is just a test result. Some of the changes were deliberately exaggerated as a way to show how things could change and not reflect what “live” changes might look like.
The team plans to share more updates at future events.
Final Fantasy XIV immediately available on PC, PS4 and PS5. There will be updates for Cape Westwind and Trusted system.
