Keisuke Nakashima, producer of Final Fantasy: Echoes of Light, recalled that when he proposed expanding the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius into a full-fledged console title in 2020, he faced resistance from some Square Enix executives. Despite the availability of a lower-cost, faster-to-produce basic port, he insisted on rebuilding the complete gaming experience specifically for consoles.
Nakashima stated that during promotional tours for the mobile game, he heard feedback from players who were interested in the title but gave up due to its gacha mechanics. This experience motivated the team to reach a broader audience through the console version.
The adaptation approach of Final Fantasy: Echoes of Light is similar to that of Octopath Traveler 0, which drew inspiration from Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. Both titles incorporated elements of the original mobile games' stories while removing microtransactions and gacha systems for their console releases.
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius has ceased operations, so Final Fantasy: Echoes of Light also serves to preserve parts of its content and player memories. However, the new title features HD-2D graphics and turn-based gameplay, rather than being a direct port of the original mobile game to new platforms.
Final Fantasy: Echoes of Light later achieved the highest peak concurrent player count on Steam for any single-player Final Fantasy series title. Analysts estimated that within less than five days of release, the game sold approximately 400,000 copies across PS5, Xbox Series X, and Steam, generating around $20 million in revenue.