FFXIV free trial extended again

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 16 November, 2010

November's update gets tentative date.

Square Enix has extended the free trial of its embattled MMO Final Fantasy XIV for a second time.

The decision means players have another 30 days of free game time to play before they pay.

November's version update is tentatively dated for 25th November – next Thursday. It "marks the first step in bringing about significant improvement to FFXIV, guided in large part by the feedback you, the players, have provided" reads the official website.

"We are adamant that you should be given the opportunity to experience these changes firsthand before deciding to fully commit to the game. We encourage everyone to view today's post, as well as the previous Topics post from 11th November outlining the development team's roadmap for the coming months."

The game's free trial was first extended last month – because, according to Square Enix, of "the current state of the game".

It followed an outpouring of complaints and criticism from players, mainly relating to the user interface and combat system. Final Fantasy XIV is currently sitting on a 54 out of 100 Metacritic review score average.

Yesterday Eurogamer heard from senior vice president of software development Hiromichi Tanaka, who outlined the improvements the team plans to make to the MMO in the coming months.

The second 30-day free trial extension is available to all users who registered a FFXIV service account and purchased a character by 19th November at 23:59 GMT, so you've still got a few days to sort yourself out.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • SilentTristero #1 2 years ago

    Good news, from a forward-looking perspective.

    The poor quality launch is history now; personally hoping for a fun MMO to come out of this mess.

  • YobRenoops #2 2 years ago

    Where the fuck is the PS3 version?

    That is all.

  • SilentTristero #3 2 years ago

    Fuck the PS3 version; we already know where that is (March).

    I want further clarification on the mystery 360 version; something they apparently have pretty much ready to go.

  • Vistrix #4 2 years ago

    @SilentTristero They've already said, they have the 360 version ready to start working on again and would have it out relatively soon.

    The problem is, as always, Microsoft.

    I'm amazed Square Enix is even bothering when the platform is just not suited for the MMO genre.

  • Vistrix #5 2 years ago

    Does the extra 30 days apply to you if you signed up and "purchased" a character but havent used up their 30 day trial? (e.g. no money has been taken from me yet).

    I decided to buy this game over the weekend and got completely lost.

    I still have no idea how to attack properly and where I am half the time.

  • BuddyChrist #6 2 years ago

    Thats a start. Make the game free, then I'll be interested..... Then pay me to play it.

    Change back to Squaresoft and make good games, then everyones a winner.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #7 2 years ago

    @SilentTristero - Nothing to clarify. SquareEnix want the 360 version to be able to use the same servers as the PS3 and PC versions. Microsoft allowed them to do this with FFXI (using the PC/PS2 servers) in order to get SquareEnix 'on-board' on the 360, but are reportedly unwilling to allow the same with FFXIV. And it will sit in eternal limbo until one of them gives way.

    This might seem stubborn of SquareEnix, but they want users from all platforms to play together just like with FFXI (not to mention, only having to run one set of servers, and staff to administer them). Microsoft want 100% control over the network infastructure. There are practical issues too... for example, MMOs tend to have small updates released in relatively quick succession, as well as 'test periods' of downtime when changes are implemented and tested. This is impossible if done through Live because of the certification process.

  • solidsnakedave #8 2 years ago

    fuck 360 they shud only get ff14 when they share ff11 with ps3 and their 360 only games, 2nd we can only hope ff14 ps3 comes out in march

  • Zaiz #9 2 years ago

    Live works pretty well, but they need to start working in some MMO allowances. FFIV will not work on the 360 unless the servers are joined. Too bad that FFIV had such a bad launch it can't use that as leverage to get on Microsoft's console.

  • Hypercube #10 2 years ago

    @Vistrix - I think this is just means that as long as your character was created before 19th November, you free trial extends until early January.

  • hobojebus #11 2 years ago

    Oh dear they must be panicing to give away more free time, people must be leaving in droves and after a bad launch its virtually impossible to get people back.

  • Climhazzard #12 2 years ago

    @zaiz You do mean XIV im guessing yeah? ;)

  • levitate #13 2 years ago

    It's a very dodgy way of buying time, not sure they will benefit from it in the end. I'm definitely not buying this and so far I haven't heard one single argument that can persuade me to be interested in the slightest.
    Edited by levitate at 18/11/10 @ 12:54

  • Gravija #14 2 years ago

    Hi, Just letting u know all, i been playing FFXIV since release, and i know it was a bad start, but, i know SE is a good company, and they wil do a very good job to implement updates and become the best game ever, just as they did with FFXI, if they giving free time again, is sure to let ppl know they are here to respond when is needed and they want us to know how wonderfull this game wil be.
    ty.