FFXIV on Switch 2: 117 GB, the largest game on the console - microSD Express becomes a purchase variable

The porting of Final Fantasy XIV Online to Switch 2 weighs 117 GB and will occupy 46 % of the console's storage capacity on its own. Released on August 4, a mandatory monthly subscription is required.

The fact, cash

According to Notebookcheck (article from July 26, 2026), Final Fantasy XIV Online on Nintendo Switch 2 weighs 117 GB. It is officially the largest game ever announced for the console. Purely digital edition, release scheduled for August 4, 2026, and - obviously, we are talking about a Square Enix MMO - mandatory monthly subscription to play.

What really hurts: Notebookcheck calculates that the game will occupy 46% of the storage capacity of the Switch 2 in its standard version. One game. Almost half of the machine.

What this changes for the buyer

We are not subtle on this point: at 117 GB, FFXIV on Switch 2 turns the microSD Express into a quasi-mandatory accessory for anyone who wants to play without sacrificing the rest of their game library. The Switch 2 requires, let's recall, microSD Express cards (not the old microSD UHS-I) - a format still little widespread, and whose prices remain high.

Concretely, for a buyer aiming for FFXIV:

• The base console is not enough. You will need at least a 256 GB microSD Express, more likely 512 GB or 1 TB if you want to keep Zelda, Mario Kart and one or two other AAA games.
• The FFXIV subscription is added on top of the game price - the Square Enix model remains the same as on PC/PS5. We are indeed talking about a subscription MMO, not a solo game that you buy once.
• The game being digital-only on Switch 2, no cartridge option to save internal storage.

The analysis: why 117 GB, and why now

We have played FFXIV on PC and on PS5 - the team has its Sāstasha veterans and its Ultimate raiders. The weight of the game does not surprise us: on PC, the complete installation with the extensions Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, Endwalker and Dawntrail has long exceeded 100 GB. What is new is to find this volume as such on a portable console.

Three possible readings:

One, Square Enix has clearly chosen to port the complete version, extensions included. It's the right editorial choice: offering a truncated FFXIV on Switch 2 would have been nonsense for an MMO that lives on its endgame and raids.

Two, it sends a strong signal to Nintendo. The Switch 2 was designed to digest modern AAA games, and FFXIV comes to test the practical limit of its storage. Expect to see Nintendo push harder for the availability of microSD Express cards in the coming months.

Three, it revives the old question of the microSD Express ecosystem. The format has existed for a while but struggles to take off on the manufacturer side (Samsung, SanDisk, Sabrent). A game like FFXIV, played in large numbers, serves as a commercial boost: manufacturers know they will sell cards.

The competitors to consider

To give an order of magnitude: on Switch 2, most major games run between 20 and 60 GB. 117 GB is almost double the heaviest known competitor. On PC, only a few monsters (Call of Duty and its saga, Baldur's Gate 3 fully patched, Microsoft Flight Simulator) exceed this volume.

Note & for whom

Note: 8/10 - but be careful, the note is on the opportunity to play FFXIV on the go, not on the weight of the file. It's an excellent MMO, one of the best of its generation, and having it in portable session on the train is a real plus.

For whom: FFXIV veterans who want a second "nomadic" machine to continue their Roulettes on the move; curious people who have never dared to try it on PC and who will find here a console entry point. Not for whom: those who refuse to pay a monthly subscription, and those who have not budgeted for microSD Express above the game price.

To remember: release August 4, 2026, 117 GB, digital-only, microSD Express recommended, mandatory monthly subscription. Plan the ecosystem before starting the download.