Although the PC version of Final Fantasy XIV is set to launch next month, PlayStation 3 owners are forced to wait until March 2011. According to the MMO's producer Hiromichi Tanaka, the primary reason the title will not see simultaneous release between PC and console is because of memory (aka RAM) restrictions.
"The main reason is the memory," Tanaka told VG247 at Gamescom 2010 last week. "On the PC, they have enormous memory. For PS3, there's a restriction." According to the report, Square Enix is adjusting the memory to fit the console version but the process "took longer" than the team expected.
Memory limitations between console and PC versions are a concern for development companies. In an interview during Relic's preview event for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, producer Andy Lang told Shacknews that the lead platform for its upcoming title was the Xbox 360 primarily because it works as a base line for the multiplatform release.
"One of the big issues with developing on PC is that your memory is really free. You can have an 8GB box with a 1GB card and a 360 is just 512MB of RAM," Lang told Shacknews. "We had to start on a platform to make it look really good at 512MB and then maybe add to it."
Final Fantasy XIV will launch on the PC on September 30. Square Enix says it is still in talks with Microsoft to bring the title to the Xbox 360.