Square Enix has "no plans" to make Final Fantasy 14 free to play even though a lot of the game already is.
Speaking to Eurogamer, director Naoki Yoshida made clear the game will continue to require a monthly subscription for the time being. That being said, Square Enix is also likely to continue expanding the already lengthy free trial.
"I believe the free trial will continue to be expanded, but we have no plans of making the client itself free at the moment," Yoshida said.
"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 [like Dawntrail] 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."
Final Fantasy 14 currently offers players a ton of content in its free trial, letting new users play until they reach level 60. This takes around 60 hours minimum if players power through the main story, but doing absolutely everything available for free could last players hundreds of hours.
As Yoshida mentioned, this will continue to be expanded too. The cap is increasing to level 70 when the Dawntrail expansion launches in summer 2024. The update will also bring a major graphical overhaul to Final Fantasy 14 alongside a wealth of new story content.
In our 9/10 review of the latest major expansion, IGN said: "Final Fantasy 14's Endwalker expansion brings its longest story arc to a satisfying close and cements its place as one of the best Final Fantasy stories ever told."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
