Final Fantasy XI is a MMORPG developed by Square Enix. It is the first MMORPG in the series, though certainly not the last – FFXIV, released in 2010, continues to be popular to this day. Unfortunately, FFXI does not – Square Enix keeps the game on life support, and has completely abandoned PS2 and Xbox 360 versions altogether. Still, it is a notable part of the Final Fantasy franchise, and you should check it out while you still can. Much like most MMOs, Final Fantasy XI gives the players missions and quests to complete. Although these words may seem interchangeable, the game makes a distinction – the former are storyline quests, while the latter are sidequests. Completing sidequests grants your character “fame points”, which allow you to complete even more sidequests. The character classes in this game are called Jobs – because that’s how Final Fantasy does it. The player can only have one Job active at a time, but can change it at any moment. They also can choose a “Support Job”, which will grant them access to that Job’s abilities, but in a limited fashion. The players can also engage in minigames, the most popular of which is Chocobo breeding. Although it is available on Windows only, you can also play Final Fantasy XI on Mac. To learn how to do this, read the guide below.
Play Final Fantasy XI on Mac with Parallels
Since Final Fantasy XI is so easy on hardware, Parallels Desktop can be a solution. This is an application that allows for Windows virtualization on Mac with the full support of DirectX and GPUs. In simpler terms, what this means is that it allows you to install Windows 10 on Mac with just a couple of clicks and switch between MacOS and Windows instantly. So you will be able to run Windows, install Steam, and enjoy the Final Fantasy XI game on Mac just like on a regular PC.
Note: Recommended devices to run resource-demanding games: MacBook Pro (models with an Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac (models with Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac Pro (all models are suitable), Mac Pro (all models are suitable). Parallels on Mac computers with M1 (M1 Pro, M1 Max) chips may not support recent games. Games that require DirectX 12 and later are currently not supported by Parallels. AppsOnMac recommends using Parallels’ free trial feature to determine whether you can run the game or not if you’re uncertain.
Play Final Fantasy XI on Mac with cloud gaming services
If you have an old Mac or it cannot satisfy the Final Fantasy XI game system requirements, there is an easy solution. Cloud gaming services will be happy to provide you with sufficient computing power – though not for free, of course. All you need is a browser or a small client program and a good internet connection starting from 15 MBit/s. There are several great platforms that provide these services, among the best are Boosteroid, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Nvidia GeForce Now.
Play Final Fantasy XI on Mac with BootCamp
Note: Mac computers with new Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 Pro, or M1, M2, M3 Max) currently do not support BootCamp. In this case, please, use the options above to run Final Fantasy XI on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play Final Fantasy XI on Mac by installing Windows. You need to set up a dual boot of Windows and Mac via BootCamp. This is an application that allows users to choose the system to work in on startup, however, you won’t be able to switch between systems like in Parallels. You will need to reboot your machine every time you want to switch from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Remember that Mac is just a computer, in the end. And while newer Macs have their own special Apple Silicon chips that cannot run Windows, older Macs are very much similar to computers that run Windows, they have Intel processors, compatible RAM, disks, and other components. So you can install Windows on an older Mac by allocating no less than 64 GB of disk space (to be able to run Windows and a couple of games) and following these steps:
For OS X El Capitan 10.11 and older
For MacOS versions prior to OS X El Capitan 10.11 you will need to create a bootable Windows USB.
- Download this Windows ISO file.
- Open Boot Camp Assistant (Go to Applications > Utilities).
- Define the Windows partition size and choose the Windows ISO file you’ve downloaded.
- Format the Windows partition and go through all Windows installation steps.
- When Windows boots for the first time follow on-screen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers)