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Square Enix was forced to pull the OS X/Mac version of its MMO, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn this week after users reported serious issues with the game. To make matters worse, the Mac version was not developed natively for the operating system but instead put in a ‘wrapper' to allow the Windows version to run on OS X.
Since OS X isn't natively compatible with DirectX, attempting to emulate the functionality just caused a bunch of problems for users. In the end, Square Enix announced refunds for Mac users and put out a lengthy forum post explaining a few things: “We have received a great deal of feedback regarding the performance of the Mac version, as well as various problems which resulted from the information we provided prior to its release. For these issues, we apologize. After careful consideration, due to the issues surrounding the Mac version, we have decided to offer a full refund to those who wish to receive one.”
Square Enix was working on its now released expansion, Heavensward at the same time as the OS X version of the game and as a result, it did not dedicate enough resources to the Mac version of Final Fantasy XIV. Making matters worse, the company released the wrong system requirements for the game, so many Mac users bought the game expecting it to run, only to later find out that it would not.
Square Enix will put the Mac version of the game up for sale again later this year when it is fixed properly. Honestly, the whole situation is very reminiscent of the issues we found with Batman: Arkham Knight, which was also pulled from sale on the PC following performance issues.
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KitGuru Says: While Macs are definitely not gaming machines, they are often capable of running less intensive titles like World of Warcraft or Dota 2. Unfortunately, instead of developing in native OpenGL to work on Macs properly, the FFXIV team tried to essentially emulate the Windows version of the game and since OS X is not natively compatible with Direct X, this caused tons of issues. Hopefully Square Enix will have some good news for Mac users later on in the year.
