Final Fantasy XIV Free Gameplay News: 4 Million Users Registered, Offers Free Log-ins for Returning Players
"Final Fantasy XIV," the massive multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Square Enix, recently celebrated a major milestone. According to a report on Polygon, the game has breached the four million mark in terms of registered users. In the announcement, Square Enix noted that this number excludes those users who registered for a free trial only and counts those who have at least purchase a full version of the game.
To celebrate this milestone, the creators also announced that users who have previously subscribed, bought a full version of the game, but did not continue their subscription may log-in and return for free starting Feb. 27. The free log-in campaign will run for 10 days, until March 9. According to the report, it is one way for the game to bring in more active subscribers.
The offer is said to be available for users on all platforms: PC, PS4 and PS3. Users may check their account status on the Square Enix website to see if they qualify for the offer.
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Since its relaunch in 2013, the game has received new content through recent patches, including "traditional dungeons and dragons story quests to the unexpected addition of chocobo racing mini-game," which was first introduced in an early version of the game, "Final Fantasy VII." Its first expansion pack called "Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward" will be released April 2015.
Although the game's four million seems a world away from other massive multiplayer online role-playing games such as "World of Warcraft" (which is said to have 10 million subscribers at one point), this number is still an achievement for a game that was labelled as a game that "greatly damaged the 'Final Fantasy' brand," according to a report in Gamespot.
The game has a colorful history: after it launched in September 2010, it was included in the list of the worst video games of all time, with numerous complaints about bugs and glitches "leading to a consensus that the game was unfinished." After changes in the development team within Square Enix, the company redeveloped and relaunched the game in September 2012 as "Final Fantasy: A Ream Reborn."
