Video game Final Fantasy XIV being developed as a live-action TV series

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Fans of the long-running video game series FINAL FANTASY have a lot to look forward to, what with Square Enix taking to E3 recently to show off dazzling footage of their remake of FINAL FANTASY VII and their remastered edition of FINAL FANTASY IX. Now there’s more, as today it was announced that the series is taking to television with a new live-action series based on the gaming franchise being put into development.

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Sony Pictures Television, Square Enix and Hivemind (Netflix’s THE WITCHER) are teaming for the project that will tell “an original story set in the fantastic world of Eorzea," which was first introduced in the series’ first online multiplayer game, FINAL FANTASY XIV, and features characters from the series' entire history. Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton will write for the series and serve as EPs, while Jason F. Brown (Amazon's THE EXPANSE), Sean Daniel (Universal's THE MUMMY franchise), and Dinesh Shamdasani (Sony Pictures' BLOODSHOT) produce for Hivemind.

While the key details of the series are being kept under wraps, the release did reveal a synopsis about what fans can expect to see:

Inspired directly by the world and characters of the title’s fourteenth installment, the project will embrace the bold and genre-bending sensibilities of the revered and long-running FINAL FANTASY series as it explores the struggle between magic and technology in a quest to bring peace to a land in conflict. Filled with iconic hallmarks of the title’s revered mythology – magitek and beastmen, airships and chocobos – the forthcoming series will feature a mixture of new and familiar faces. Those will, notably, include the live-action debut of Cid – one of the games' central and most beloved characters who has appeared in almost every installment of the franchise to date. 

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“FINAL FANTASY XIV and Eorzea are the perfect gateway into FINAL FANTASY for longtime fans and newcomers alike,” Sony Pictures Television Co-President Chris Parnell said in a statement. “This show is about embracing and embodying all of the elements that have made the mythos such an endlessly captivating phenomenon, and it’s an immense honor to be bringing all of Eorzea’s iconic characters, settings, and concepts – including fan-favorites like Cid and, of course, the chocobos – to life for a television audience."

Jason Brown, Hivemind co-founder and co-president, also issued a statement, saying, "Television is the ideal medium to capture the extraordinary depth, sophisticated themes, and unparalleled imagination of FINAL FANTASY and its multitude of unique and fully realized characters. He continued, "We are working tirelessly to bring together artists from around the world who are united in honoring the extraordinary legacy of this franchise and its millions of fans around the world."

The series is no stranger to films and TV series, mostly with animated and CGI movies and shows coming out several times over the years, including the 2001 theatrical release, FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN starring Ming-Na Wen, Alec Baldwin and more. This new series will mark a big, major shift into a live-action adaptation, which comes as other video games, like THE WITCHER with Henry Cavill, make their way to television. This should be a big one for fans, so stay tuned for all things casting, development and more.