“I believe the free trial will continue to be expanded, but we have no plans of making the client itself free at the moment,” said Yoshida in response to a question about the game’s generous free trial eventually expanding to encompass current content. “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.”

Yoshida goes on to talk about the last ten years of working on Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, which was released all the way back in 2013. Since its release, the game has seen four expansions, with the fifth one—Dawntrail—being slated for a Summer 2024 release.

When asked whether the studio plans to leave Final Fantasy 14 to start focusing on a new game, Yoshida responded by saying that there are no current plans to leave the world of Eorzea. This might change some day down the line if the is hit with some kind of inspiration.

“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’,” said Yoshida. “That might change if I am hit with some kind of inspiration though.”

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail was announced in July with a trailer during the most recent iteration of its annual Final Fantasy FanFest. The expansion seems to be themed after providing the protagonist—the Warrior of Light—with a vacation after the harrowing events of the last few expansions.

The game’s free trial has also been expanded quite a bit. When the free trial was first introduced in 2020, players could play Final Fantasy 14 up to the end of the Heavensward expansion. Back in July, Square Enix announced that the free trial is now being expanded to also include the Stormblood expansion, leading up to right before the events of the critically-acclaimed Shadowbringers expansion kicks off.

The new expanded free trial for Final Fantasy 14 will go live with the release of patch 6.5. It is worth noting that only fresh accounts can make use of the free trial, and players who previously tried the game before the free trial went live back in 2020 and stopped playing will have to start over with a brand new account to be able to make use of the current iteration of the free trial.

Final Fantasy 14: Stormblood features a story revolving around the uprising of two nations under Garlean control—Ala Mhigo and Doma. The globe-trotting campaign has the player’s Warrior of Light kick off several rebellions in an effort to push back against the tyranny of the Garlean empire, with the endgame story focusing around bringing the war to an end and leading into the events of Shadowbringers.

The announcement for the new expanded free trial comes alongside other announcements, which most notably includes the name and a teaser trailer for the next expansion for Final Fantasy 14, dubbed Dawntrail. The new expansion is slated for release in Summer 2024, and will also come to the Xbox Series X/S, which is set to get Final Fantasy 14 in Spring 2024.

The #FFXIV Free Trial will be further expanded to include Stormblood, arriving alongside the release of Patch 6.5! pic.twitter.com/IWp9OlBZQy

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) July 28, 2023

Square Enix is releasing a big new patch for Final Fantasy 14 today which will trim down much of the bloat that exists in the base story. It also adds more content but new players might want to check out the game as well. That’s because the free trial will be expanded significantly and includes the first expansion, Heavensward.

One can play for as long as they want until hitting level 60 and even experience all of the content released up to patch 3.56. Access to the Machinist, Astrologian and Dark Knight jobs will also be provided. All in all, it’s a great way to experience the base game while also sampling what the expansions have to offer.

Keep in mind that a monthly subscription is still required to play. While new accounts will receive 30 days of free game time, they’ll have to pay $12.99 past that. Final Fantasy 14 is currently available for PS4 and PC, and is considered by many to be the best MMORPG out there. Stay tuned for details on subsequent updates in the coming days.

Square Enix is prepping for the next major expansion to Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn with Shadowbringers. If you’re a lapsed player and haven’t had a chance to really dive back into the MMO, then there’s good news. Base game owners can pick up the first expansion, Heavensward for free until June 27th.

The expansion includes new jobs, a new race, new dungeons and quests, and much more. You even receive all major updates that were added post-launch for the expansion. Even better is that there’s a free login campaign available until June 17th, allowing players to come back and try the expansion out without paying anything.

It’s worth noting that Shadowbringers will include the prior two expansions when it launches, so wait before thinking about buying Stormblood. Shadowbringers releases on July 2nd and includes new continents, a new Gunblade class, new races, and more. It will even have raids themed on NieR: Automata, created by Yoko Taro himself.