Prepare to experience Eorzea through the Warrior of Light’s eyes. Team Flat2VR is working on an unofficial virtual reality mod for Square Enix’s hit MMORPG. The Final Fantasy XIV VR mod promises to make the game compatible with various headsets.
Flat2VR teased the mod’s functionality in a tweet:
https://twitter.com/flat2vr/status/1588665945278803968
The Final Fantasy XIV VR mod is being developed by modders Marulu and Streetrat, who helped create the Half-Life 2 VR mod. That mod altered Valve’s 2004 shooter to allow free aiming and full “6 degrees of freedom” movement with VR headsets and motion tracking.
The mod being developed for FFXIV promises similar functionality, including support for use with a first- and third-person camera and the use of motion controls. The trailer shows a player in a VR headset traveling around in the game. They view characters by tilting their head, and even appear to engage in some gameplay, visiting areas from the Heavensward expansion. The teaser shows a floating UI that appears in front of the player and shows their various abilities in the traditional PC-style hotbar arrangement.
The Final Fantasy XIV VR mod is set to enter alpha testing soon. Details on what hardware it will support or its requirements have not been announced.
It should also be noted that Square Enix stated repeatedly that it considers mods to be a violation of FFXIV‘s terms of service. Though it tends to turn a blind eye towards certain “quality of life” mods like data parsers and graphical tweaks, it has punished streamers caught using them publicly. In essence, mods and third-party tools are things to use at one’s own risk, and the VR mod may well fall under that umbrella.
Final Fantasy XIV is available on PS4, PS5, and PC, where it recently received its version 6.28 content patch.
