Final Fantasy 14 Isn’t Going Free-To-Play, Yoshi-P Says

Going free-to-play isn’t in the cards for Final Fantasy 14, according to producer and director Naoki Yoshida. In an interview with Eurogamer, Yoshi-P commented on the nature of the critically acclaimed MMORPG and the direction it’s meant to take following the 10th-anniversary celebration of Square Enix’s flagship MMO. Yoshida-san also touched upon the ever-expanding free trial as well, citing the importance of this model.

I believe the free trial will continue to be expanded, but we have no plans of making the client itself free at the moment. Since a huge amount of time and money has been invested in the expansion packages, the revenue from sales of the expansion package itself is still very important in order to continue to make expansions on this scale. We would like to constantly aim for the best on the business side as well to continue making a lot of content to be enjoyed.”

Ever since the free trial was initially improved with the removal of the time restriction followed by the addition of older expansions, FFXIV has been subject to some wholesome memes. Reflecting the state of the new and improved trial, the community tends to market it to other gamers in an attempt to spread the word around. As the trial keeps getting expanded, so does the quality of these memes.

Regardless of the seemingly gradual yet infinite expansion of its free trial, Yoshida-san has explained his reasoning as to why FFXIV will not go free-to-play. Citing the significance of time and money invested in the game’s expansions, its revenue is one of the greatest factors contributing to the development of content on such a large scale. 

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Furthermore, Yoshida-san also briefly touched upon whether the team will eventually move on from Eorzea stating, “We don’t have plans to move on to a new game as that would be something even more difficult than having the realm be ‘reborn’, that might change if I am hit with some kind of inspiration though.”

Final Fantasy 14 is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, and Steam.