Final Fantasy 14 Xbox Version Has Surprising Requirement

Highlights

• Xbox players wanting to upgrade to the full version of Final Fantasy 14 will need both a game subscription and Xbox Game Pass.
• The Xbox open beta version of Final Fantasy 14 will launch on February 21, allowing crossplay with PC, PS4, and PS5 players.
• Existing players will not be allowed to participate in the open beta, which is exclusive to new players, but the full version will launch for Xbox at a later date.

Ahead of the launch of the Xbox open beta version of Final Fantasy 14, Square Enix revealed that Xbox players who want to upgrade from the free trial to the full version will require subscriptions to both the game and to Xbox Game Pass. The announcement also revealed that the Xbox open beta version of Final Fantasy 14 will launch on February 21.

During the 2023 Las Vegas Fan Fest, Square Enix first revealed Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, the game’s fifth expansion since its 2013 relaunch. Dawntrail will bring the game’s first major graphical update and introduce the Viper and Pictomancer Jobs. At the end of the Las Vegas Fan Fest keynote address, Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida welcomed Xbox lead Phil Spencer to the stage, and the two confirmed that Final Fantasy 14 was heading to Xbox Series X/S. The subsequent London Fan Fest narrowed down when Xbox players could try Final Fantasy 14, with an initial target window of mid-January to February.

That target window was proven correct. Square Enix stated that the Xbox Series X/S version of Final Fantasy 14 will launch as an open beta on Wednesday, February 21, at approximately 3:00 a.m. Eastern. The open beta is exclusive to new players, as existing players will not be allowed to participate. But, since Final Fantasy 14 has dedicated servers, Xbox players will be able to play with PC, PS4, and PS5 players from the start. The free trial of Final Fantasy 14, which was expanded in Patch 6.5 to include the Stormblood expansion, will serve as the basis for the Xbox open beta test. However, Xbox players who want to upgrade to the full version will not only need to purchase Final Fantasy 14 but will need both a game subscription and an Xbox Game Pass Core or Ultimate subscription.

When Does The Open Beta of Final Fantasy 14 on Xbox Begin?

• Wednesday, February 21, around 3:00 a.m. Eastern

By comparison, Final Fantasy 14 players on PS4 and PS5 are not required to use an additional PlayStation Plus subscription on top of the recurring game subscription. Square Enix added that the full version of Final Fantasy 14 on Xbox Series X/S would launch immediately after the open beta concludes at a later date, similarly to how the PS5 version was handled in 2021.

While the Xbox Game Pass requirement for Final Fantasy 14 is baffling, the service offers a plethora of titles and Day One releases. It remains to be seen if either Square Enix or Microsoft will offer Final Fantasy 14 players some perks to soften the blow of needing two subscriptions to play.