If you’re an Xbox owner who’s been waiting to give Final fantasy 14 a twist, then this is your chance, with some caveats. Thanks to Xbox’s open beta, you can take your first step into Eorzea, but you must be a new player to qualify.
Experienced players who want to make the switch to Xbox will be able to do so once the open beta ends, but for now you’ll just have to be patient.
Below we explain the requirements for the FFXIV Xbox open beta, and what’s inside.
FFXIV Xbox open beta requirements
To play in the open beta, you must be a new player who has never played before FFXIV for.
If you have previously claimed the free trial on another console, you will not be able to participate in this beta. If you own the game on another platform, you will also not be able to participate in this open beta. You must link your Xbox account to your Square Enix account to play, and you cannot unlink the account once you link it. We therefore advise against creating a new account just to play in the beta.
If this lets you down, don’t worry, as the full Xbox version will launch straight after the open beta ends, so you can play with all the old characters you’ve created before. (At the time of writing, the end date for the open beta has not yet been announced.)
However, any progress you make with your new open beta character will be ported to the full version of the game (as expected, since it’s an online game).
Here’s how to play the FFXIV open beta on Xbox
If you meet all these requirements, go to the Microsoft Store and go to the Final fantasy 14 product page. Download the free trial and jump in!
Image: Square Enix
If you’re having trouble playing the game, make sure you adjust all these settings in your Xbox settings under Settings > Account > Privacy & Online Safety > Xbox Privacy > View Details & Adjust > Communications & Multiplayer:
- “You can participate in multiplayer games” Allowed
- “You can participate in cross-network play” Allowed
- “Others can communicate with voice, text, or invitations‘ set to ‘everyone’
- “You can communicate outside of Xbox using voice and text‘ set to ‘everyone’
From Settings > Account > Privacy & Online Safety > Xbox Privacy > View Details & Adjust > Game Content, set ‘You can view and upload community creations” to everyone.”
You don’t need Xbox Game Pass to play the free trial or open beta. You’ll need an Xbox Game Pass membership (Core or Ultimate) to play the full version, if you plan to pay later to opt out of the free trial.
What’s included in the Xbox FFXIV free trial?
The same things that are included in the regular free trial are also included in the Xbox free trial FFXIV:
- The entire basic game (An empire reborn), as well as two extensions, Heavenward And Stormblood
- A level cap of level 70 for all courses
- Nearly all content is included in these expansions, including the Astrologer, Machinist, Dark Knight, Samurai, and Red Mage jobs
Image: Square Enix
This is hundreds of hours of free content, but that means there are still some limitations to the trial period:
- You are not allowed to take more than 300,000 gil
- You cannot use the ‘yell’, ‘yell’ or ‘tell’ chat features
- You cannot use the market board
- You cannot trade with other players
- You cannot send Moogle email
- You cannot get commission (warehouse and marketboard sellers)
- You cannot join a free company (guild)
- You can’t to make Linkshells (chat groups) but you can join them
- You can’t to make parties (outside of dungeons and multiplayer battle content), but you can join them
- You cannot play PvP
- You cannot perform Ultimate raids
It’s pretty much a bunch of social or sales features just to keep bot accounts from flooding players.
That said, it’s a lot of content to do, and not being able to host parties in the open world won’t really stop you from doing much. The free trial is worth milking for all it’s worth, especially if you’re not sure you want to shell out the cost (and monthly subscription) to play.