Final Fantasy 14's Free PS5, PS4 Trial Expands to Include Stormblood

Do note what it says. Its not available till 6.5.
But that said - That is an INSANE amount of free content.

@get2sammyb Oh yeah, you absolutely can!
It's just more so people don't rush to redownload the game expecting to be able to continue already if they have cleared the previous expansion for free. Not like the game is a small download

Really bugs me because I wanted to try the free trial out but for whatever reason the game thought I bought something and it locked me out of the free trial.

Also finally coming to Xbox…

How long does the free trial last?

The first time I tried to play when I made it to the first dungeons I was auto paired up with people who just speedran through it and killed the boss without me really having to do or learn anything so that kind of soured the whole experience for me. The game is probably much better if you can get together with some friends.

@get2sammyb I have not but it doesn't matter anyways. I did the dumb thing of buying the collecter's edition(Which thankfully was at a big discount) because I thought it would give me a month of a subscription, boy was I wrong lol. It's fine because I've been wanting to try this for a long time and especially after playing through a bit of the beginning, so I'm off to buy the subscription!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Forever or until you make your first purchase, which then it is no longer free to play.

I have lots and lots of catching up to do, I barely even gotten to the first two expansion but in a way, this is good news for me. More time to play the trial!

@pharos_haven wait really? That’s pretty cool

@PsBoxSwitchOwner there are a lot of limitations like not being able to access the auction house or broadcast channels, and a way lower gil cap, but you can pretty much play the whole game and get gear without spending a dime.

The content all the way through Stormblood is a gigantic amount of content. I can see some casual players taking a year to go through the main story, much more if they decide to level up multiple jobs to the level 70 cap.

it was also announced that ff14 is headed to xbox which is a big deal... as well as the possibility of other/future s-e games. this likely means sony missed the boat on acquiring s-e so we should probably tone down the speculation on that rumour now. this is bad news for sony if they want to remain competitive 10, 20 years in the future with so many other acquisitions going on around them.

My account was created before the free option, i stopped playing but have to pay now for content others are able to get for free. That's so stupid

@Porco someone mentioned on purexbox the possibility SE is using this newsbit as leverage for a sony buyout.

It is a valid idea.

I really should dive into FF14 one day. It sounds interesting and it seems like there is a ton of content that's going to be free.

Not sure why everyone is so down in the dumps about this game (and others) coming to Xbox. Why should anyone here even care? It changes nothing for PlayStation.

Will you suddenly just not play with another player because [gasp] they're on Xbox?!

Why can't the whole thing just be that whatever happened between the two companies has been patched up (similar to how Nintendo and Square Enix worked things out)? Why does this have to be all talk about acquisitions and movements on a chessboard for Sony simply because Square Enix is going to release games on Xbox again?

Microsoft and Square Enix worked out whatever they needed to work out. Leave that talk over on Pure Xbox where it actually has more weight and just enjoy the fact that:

1) new content is coming
2) the free trial is getting expanded
3) a game that relies on player numbers will get more players

Everyone wins.

@GamingFan4Lyf i don't think that's it. for me, i am concerned that if microsoft and other major publishers (tencent etc) continue to make big moves, sony will not be competitive which will lead to problems in the future. i'm thinking more 10+ years into the future here. now is the time for sony to invest and create a safety net for itself. as we have seen, the gaming industry has become cuthroat where only the strongest survive. s-e really is one of the few prime targets sony should be thinking about but now (with the latest news of ff going to xbox) i have my doubts that they are taking it seriously.

@Cashews anything is possible. that would be an interesting twist.

@AsterZero not a bad take. anything that is going to help sony to remain competitive well into the future is a wise move in the current environment they find themselves in.

@Porco Yeah maybe Sony done ***** something up. Would be a shame if Square Enix gets acquired by someone else. Especially, nowdays as Playstation Player you constantly in the position where your preferred platform loses even more games.
First Bedestha games then Activision games then who else's games? Would be devastatingly ironic if it was Square Enix games themselves.

@Porco I don't necessarily see this as any game-changing move though - at least not one that is detrimental to Sony, Nintendo, or the rest of the gaming industry.

Something happened between Microsoft and Square Enix that caused SE to suddenly stop releasing games on Xbox (even "minor" releases like the Pixel Remaster) - to the detriment of the Xbox community.

Now, it seems things have been patched up.

How is improved relations between Microsoft and a third-party publisher any kind of cutthroat business move?

It just seems very odd the reactions people are having here.

Square Enix can't be Microsoft's friend because it is Sony's and Nintendo's friend? It was stranger that Xbox was being excluded from every recent multi-platform release for no publicly known reason.

Square Enix can make Octopath Traveler a timed exclusive with Nintendo and Final Fantasy XVI a timed exclusive with Sony, but it can't release Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox because it's Microsoft and a nefarious corporate takeover?

@GamingFan4Lyf for the sake of sony's future and stability, i truly believe that they need to acquire at least one major japanese publisher. be it s-e, capcom or sega. this will help to somewhat offset the purchases made by microsoft (bethesda and activision among others). while sony is doing well at the moment, the scales may tip in the future so that is why it is important to act now before people potentially flee to microsoft platforms down the line. sony is still the best publisher in the business (next to nintendo) when it comes to 1st party software, but that may gradually change if microsoft continues to swallow up the industry and there is a decline in sony's first party output due to receeding revenue. sony needs to react to this possibility and soon.

prior to the activision and bethesda deals, there would be absolutely no problem with s-e being a true 3rd party publisher to the big three. but again, i need to stress this... if sony does not make a move, someone else will (maybe even nintendo) and it will put sony at a disadvantage as far as competition goes.

if sharing 3rd parties is your ideal scenario, then why support microsoft's major acquisitions that generally only serve microsoft alone? why be critical of sony doing the same to remain competitive? shouldn't microsoft's agressive moves concern you if you are in favour of fair competition in the industry?

I wouldn't be able to play the trial on PS because I tried the beta during the PS3 days and that permanently locked me out from all future trials.

There may be a way to get the trial again on the same account as long as you haven't bought the game. You have one chance of having your square enix ID removed from your PSN and create a new one. That should allow you to have the trial again but I can't be 100% sure. I'm unable to test it due to having purchased the starter edition a long time ago and don't remember doing so.

Sony refuses to remove a purchased game and because the starter edition is already tied to my PSN, a new trial isn't possible. So my solution was to play it on the Mac and then someday if i decide to pay, I will try transfering the process over to PSN with the new Square Enix ID. I suppose Xbox would be another way around it if you don't want to play on PC.

@Porco I think you missed the point of what I was saying.

I’m not saying that this discussion isn’t welcome, but it’s a discussion for an entirely different place.

Someone mentioned that FF14 is releasing on Xbox and people are suddenly talking about Sony acquiring Square Enix or making other major moves to have a stronger position in the industry.

It was one. Game release. Not a corporate takeover.

Activision was looking to be bought. Microsoft jumped at the chance. The only travesty is that Call of Duty was the focus of that acquisition battle. It doesn’t concern me because it wasn’t like Microsoft came in and forced them to sell.

That being said, I don’t think Microsoft should be allowed to buy any more publishers for the foreseeable future.

Square Enix looks to be enjoying its independence.

If Square Enix approached Sony to be acquired by Sony, I would be fine with that too because it was Square Enix's choice - despite the fact that I wouldn’t see Sony willing to put 10 year contracts on committing Final Fantasy to anyone else or swearing under oath that it would remain committed to Xbox.

But back to my point. This is one game release and people went “nuclear”.

@AsterZero yes, like you said, most japanese publishers won't sell to microsoft which is good news for sony. however, i think the possibility of nintendo acquiring one of the big japanese publishers (such as sega, capcom or s-e should the opportunity present itself down the line) is a very real possibility so sony indeed still has some competition. this era of gaming is unlike anything we have seen in history as far as mergers and acquisitions go... so much of the industry is changing hands that it will be impossible to predict what everything looks like 5 or 10 years from now.

@GamingFan4Lyf the reason this discussion came about was precisely because s-e is releasing ff14 on xbox and how that changes our perception of the possibility of s-e being acquired by sony. i made the assumption that s-e and sony may not be interested in an acquisition now that s-e has formed a partnership with xbox as a platform for its games. i doubt we would see s-e open up to xbox if they were in serious negotiations to be acquired by sony. that is the jist of it pretty much and all the issues are indeed related when observing it from this context.

at any rate, i agree with you in that microsoft will likely play nice and low key for the next few years considering their latest purchase(s) — not just for the sake of keeping their public perception grounded and less... agressive, but for microsoft to evaluate whether or not it helps the xbox division at all or if it was just a giant waste of money and resources.

@Porco Starfield will be that test. If Starfield doesn’t perform as Microsoft hopes (Game Pass subscription boost/game sales), I foresee Microsoft re-evaluating ecosystem exclusivity going forward.

I would still see the likes of Gears, Forza, Halo, etc. staying Xbox, but those studios are long bought and paid for. It’s just that I foresee Microsoft wanting a better ROI from Bethesda and ABK.

ZeniMax was a gamble for Microsoft. It used tough language and tactics in hopes it would drive subscribers, console, and game sales. If Starfield doesn’t do it; I see Microsoft softening its stance there and moat definitely keeping ABK multi-platform across the board.