The mobile version of Final Fantasy XIV has been available in China for some time. Players get an insight into the monetization – and it is not well received.
How does the monetization of Final Fantasy XIV Mobile work? FF14 Mobile is supposed to be free to play and without a subscription, even when it launches outside of China. It has been consciously decided not to use gacha mechanics, as producer Naoki Yoshida revealed back in November 2024. Nevertheless, the game is to be financed and therefore offers various ways to invest real money.
What is Gacha?
This is a game mechanic that often requires spending in-game currency. The name originally comes from “Gachapon,” which is the Japanese term for capsule machines from which you can randomly draw toys and similar items.
Gacha is especially a common variant in mobile games to generate revenue. Players can usually earn the in-game currency needed for this either through gameplay or by purchasing it for real money. For this currency, players receive a “draw,” where random rewards can be obtained.
This mechanic is particularly problematic because it involves various gambling elements. These can quickly become addictive and lead players to invest a lot of real money to get the desired items.
According to a compilation by user RablaAndrews in his thread on Reddit, it consists of an in-game shop where you can buy various items for a special real-money currency in the form of crystals:
- Premium outfits from the Mog Station
- Standard outfits from the main game
- Mounts
- Companions
- Consumable items, such as Fantasia to re-customize your character, name changes, colors, emotes, …
Additionally, there is supposed to be a kind of battle pass and a monthly premium service, both of which are optional to purchase. The corresponding currency can be acquired in various bundles – in the Chinese version, the prices currently range from about €1 (600 crystals) to approximately €100 (64,800 crystals).
Since Final Fantasy XIV Mobile is currently only playable in China, these insights only provide assumptions about what players can expect from a global release. Both the items for which money is to be spent and the real-money currency are, however, not well received in the community.
“Genshin 2.0 was not on my bingo card for 2025”
What is the problem with this? Fans criticize on Reddit that the packages through which the real-money currency can be purchased for the shop are almost always just below the prices of the items in the shop.
Some outfits, for example, cost 12,800 crystals, but the only packages that come close to this price are either the one for 9,800 or the next higher one for 19,800. Players are thus forced to spend more money than they actually would need for the respective item.
On the other hand, there is a battle pass with a free and a premium track. This is packed with items that you can simply buy with Gil in the normal version of Final Fantasy XIV, such as glamour prisms and dyes. These items can also be directly purchased with crystals in the shop, which makes it all the more confusing.
According to user RablaAndrews, it is also possible to earn some premium currency on the free path, but that currently amounts to 2,500 crystals (see Reddit). Additionally, inventory slots and fashion coupons should be on the premium path, which you can use to obtain outfits.
Players consider this form of monetization excessive, although many are also not surprised. Others, however, find this type of funding completely acceptable:
- Underwould writes on Reddit: “Well, it’s a mobile game.”
- Christhebobson comments on Reddit: “Well, they surely know that their audience will still pay several monthly subscriptions for a mobile mount.”
- Main-Bed-1087 remarks on Reddit: “I am somehow jealous that they can get things that were preorder items or item codes in the normal game.”
- ItsNoblesse directly states on Reddit: “You can pay for faster mounts? I am out.”
- Liktarios makes the comparison on Reddit: “Genshin 2.0 was not on my bingo card for 2025.”
The latter primarily refers to the gacha pioneer Genshin Impact, which has caused an uproar in the past with its mechanics and opaque in-game shop as well as microtransactions. Whether the global version of Final Fantasy XIV will fare similarly due to its monetization remains to be seen.
When Final Fantasy XIV Mobile will be released globally is unfortunately still unknown. So if you want to play FF14 on the go now, you have to resort to other ways. One way has MeinMMO editor Sophia discovered and tells you why it has brought back the fun of the game: I am already playing Final Fantasy XIV on mobile and it has brought back the fun of Eorzea
