As a lifelong Final Fantasy fan, I – like many queer players – have always been fascinated by the series’ distinct fantasy realms and their colourful casts of spiky-haired, magical, occasionally cross-dressing, and sometimes wonderfully non-human characters. It’s surprising, really, it took until the sixteenth mainline game for Square Enix to include the series’ first gay kiss.
Final Fantasy 14, Square Enix’s long-running MMORPG, is no different. Its stories and characters have consumed me for hours, despite the fact I primarily play on my own, focusing on the story uninterrupted by a distracting chat box, and not – as the genre would dictate – in multiplayer sessions with others.
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That’s why, when I was lucky enough to attend the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest events in Las Vegas and London in 2023, I was struck by the diversity and kindness of the game’s community. These regular community events, which I described as being like a “theme park for its passionate community”, are where the developers reveal more about forthcoming expansions and updates, and provide players with a place to meet one another in real life. The fan walls were littered with endearing messages, while cosplayers of all sorts attracted awe, and Free Companies (the game’s equivalent to player guilds) hung out in person. It’s this kind of tight-knit community vibe that’s simply an extension of the game itself.