Many players of Final Fantasy XIV love to outfit their own characters with the best gear, the rarest hairstyles, and the coolest mounts. Now the developers have implemented what players have long wanted. Unfortunately, only in the wrong version of the MMORPG.
What’s new? Recently, there have been two prominent new things in Final Fantasy XIV. One is a mount, in the form of a floating or flying surfboard. The second is new hairstyles. The twist? The mount is dyeable. And the hairstyles are long hair with stylish bangs.
What makes the hairstyles so special? Players of Final Fantasy XIV have long desired new long hairstyles. Every time new hair cosmetics are announced, social media discussions arise: While there are always new hairstyles, they are usually short hair or high ponytails, and every now and then NPC hairstyles (via FFXIV Collect).
But now there are at least two new cute hairstyles with long, open hair – exactly what the players are wishing for. The hairstyle can even be customized with bows and chains. However, this hairstyle is not available in the regular version of Final Fantasy XIV for PC, Mac, PS5, PS4, and Xbox, but only in the currently China-restricted mobile version.
Clipping problems and monetization
Why are the hairstyles only available for mobile? A specific reason for this is currently unknown and it may also happen that the hairstyle will be implemented in the main game at a later point. However, there are a few points that might explain the situation:
Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XIV Mobile are developed by different teams. Although both are under Square Enix and director and producer Naoki Yoshida probably has some influence on the mobile version, this version is ultimately created at Lightspeed Studios.
For the main game, it is often said that implementing long hair is difficult. In development, it must always be ensured that the hairstyle does not “clip” into the armor, which can lead to unsightly display errors. It’s also about quality.
Since the mobile version currently includes far fewer items than the main game, developing such hairstyles at Lightspeed Studios might simply be easier.
An example of clipping problems with long hair:
Additionally, the mobile version of the MMORPG is completely free-to-play. However, the game still needs to be financed, which it does in part through the sale of cosmetic items and mounts via an in-game shop. It’s quite possible that the pressure on the team to create well-selling cosmetics for the shop is higher than the concern about display errors like clipping.
According to a comment via the Chinese app Weibo, a hairstyle costs 68 Yuan, roughly equivalent to about 8.07 Euros at current exchange rates. Additionally, the comments suggest that one cannot simply buy the desired hairstyle, but instead receives a loot box with a random version for the purchase price. This significantly increases the money investment, as many people likely buy boxes until the desired hairstyle is included. This quickly adds up.
The mobile game really exposes SE and the main game completely
How do the players feel about this? In fact, about three months ago, new long hairstyles were introduced for Final Fantasy XIV Mobile. The comments in a Reddit thread were still quite tame. It was mainly about the fact that players would want exactly such hairstyles. There was a lot of hope.
On September 9, 2025, more hairstyles were announced along with patch notes 2.01 for Final Fantasy XIV Mobile. The tone in the official forum of the main game is now harsher:
- IttyBittyShark:
This is exactly the kind of hairstyle the players have been begging for in the main game for ages. Instead, we keep getting (subjectively) the same ugly short bobs and similar hairstyles. People have been wanting more long hairstyles for years!
- Velthice:
I doubt it was intended, but the mobile game really exposes SE and the main game completely.
- Luluna:
This frustrates me so much, lol. […] This is exactly the kind of hairstyle (with a toggle) that a lot of players would love. I wish they would finally do something about it and listen to the feedback – but unfortunately, I doubt it.
- Ephremjlm:
If your system is so bad that it literally can’t keep up with a mobile game, then they shouldn’t have done the graphic update at all. Instead, they should have rebuilt the system completely from scratch. […]
There are also some commentators who are annoyed about the dyeable mount. However, the main focus of the community is on the new hairstyles.
Just because the hairstyles are currently exclusively available in the mobile version does not mean they might not eventually make their way to the main game. Many items originally developed for, for example, China or Korea have later been made available worldwide. However, these were already intended for the standard framework of Final Fantasy XIV. Whether a port of mobile assets is as easy is unclear. The players also have quite strong words on this topic in the forum. It seems they also sometimes go overboard with their feedback: “Strict feedback is fine” – The head of Final Fantasy XIV asks the players to consider who the feedback goes to: people
