Final Fantasy XIV lands on Nintendo Switch 2 on August 4, the first time Square Enix’s long-running MMORPG has reached Nintendo hardware. The launch opens a crowded Switch 2 month and settles a question players have asked since the console arrived: whether a full online world can hold together in your hands.
What you get and what it costs
Square Enix is selling the Switch 2 version in four separate editions. The Starter Edition is $19.99 and includes the base game plus the Heavensward, Stormblood and Shadowbringers expansions, along with 30 days of play. The Complete Edition runs $59.99, discounted to $41.99 on pre-order, and adds Endwalker and Dawntrail.
One detail matters for storage-conscious buyers. Every edition installs all expansions, which pushes the download to a hefty 117GB. On a 256GB console, that single game claims close to half the drive.
A separate subscription, and why it stings
The Switch 2 edition needs its own subscription. Players who already pay on PC, PlayStation or Xbox cannot carry that over, so a veteran picking up the handheld version starts a second monthly bill. Square Enix softens it slightly, offering the Switch 2 subscription at half price to anyone with remaining game time on another platform.
The free first month helps too, though the company frames it less as a gift than as a cushion for server stability during a launch it expects to be busy.
One launch in a stacked month
Final Fantasy XIV is the opening act. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered reaches the console on August 11, and FromSoftware’s Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition follows on August 28 after a rough public debut and a long performance rescue. Together they make August the month Nintendo’s new console stops leaning on first-party games alone.
For Square Enix, the appeal is reach. Final Fantasy XIV already runs across regions and time zones, from Japan and Europe to the Oceania data center serving players in the southern hemisphere. Putting it on a portable console that has sold quickly worldwide is a bet that many of its next players will meet Eorzea on a train, not at a desk.