Final Fantasy XIV: Free-to-Play and beta announcement on PS3
Yesterday, Sony dropped a mega deuce when the company revealed the first trailer of Final Fantasy XIV. This news shocked everyone as there was no clue or rumor of the game before yesterday. Since Final Fantasy XIV will be a MMO, many have started to question if there will be a subscription fee. However, according to sources the game will use a free-to-play model.
The announcement of Final Fantasy XIV hit the audience like a ton of bricks as this might have been the best kept E3 secret. The audience was shocked again when Sony’s Jack Tretton announced that Final Fantasy XIV will be PS3 exclusive on consoles.
Despite being a MMO, according to Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIV will play like a regular Final Fantasy game. During the Square Enix press conference, a designer for the game indicated that the game was first crafted with it being a single player experience in mind but expanded into a MMO. Unlike traditional MMOs, gamers will be able to have a full satisfying experience playing the game solo or with a party. There will also be a huge focus on story and character development.
I talked a little about the subscription model for the game yesterday, but today I received word from a source that a Square Enix rep at the booth have indicated that Final Fantasy Fantasy XIV will use a Free-to-Play (F2P) model, which has been gaining popularity recently. There are no details yet, but apparently Sony and Square Enix is currently in discussion regarding the subscription model.
Currently, Sony has revealed that SOE will utilize a similar Free-to-Play model for new MMOs in development for the PS3. I suspect that this is the model Sony has pitched to Square Enix. Since the PS3 is fully capable of acting like server, Sony has been throwing up PS3s onto racks to act as dedicated servers for other games, so this arrangement with Square Enix sounds plausible.
Also, according to my source, Final Fantasy XIV will require at least 5GB of mandatory harddrive space, which to be frank sounds a bit too small for a next gen MMO (I’m thinking more like 10GB). During the press conference Square Enix also confirmed that there will indeed be a beta for the game, which is fantastic news. Gamers can expect a worldwide simultaneous release of Final Fantasy XIV in 2010 for the PS3 and PC.
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28 Responses to “Final Fantasy XIV: Free-to-Play and beta announcement on PS3”
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June 4th, 2009
I would probably even give this a crack. No subscription = my support
June 4th, 2009
buying the game should b the fee… nuff said…
June 4th, 2009
I would have liked WOW, but refuse to pay their monthly fee. People have been playing online games for years now without paying a subscription. Why the need to pay now ?? Answer…. More money. I probably wouldn’t mind if the game cost was a little more reasonable and the fee was minimal. WOW price was exorbitant.
June 4th, 2009
YEAH! Buy for me…
Mike do remember… White Knight Chronicles has an online mode… which is kind of like an MMO… though it is not “officially” branded like that…
if White Knight is free online… and this is free… lets hope the Agency and DC Universe is free as well…
June 4th, 2009
Hmm having never been into either FF series or ever played a MMO i’m willing to give this a bash. I’ve always wanted to try MMO’S
June 4th, 2009
5gb mandatory install? Ouch. My HDD is getting a bit packed, going to have to think about expanding.
June 4th, 2009
If it’s free, I’ll be picking it up day one.
However, it hasn’t been 100% confirmed as free yet. We all know Square are whores, so I wouldn’t hold my breath.
“Q: I’ve been seeing information that the title is free to play, is this true?
A: No pricing has been decided at this time. It is still TBD.”
June 4th, 2009
Thats why its only coming to the PS3, M$ wouldnt allow the game to be free. they want to make money on everything
June 4th, 2009
NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA 2 (PS3) with online co-op
• New Playable Characters: Ninja Gaiden’s Rachel, Ayane from the Dead or Alive series and Momiji from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword appear as sexy new playable characters
• Online Co-op: Two people can engage in online co-op play, with voice chat, in 10 different stages (in 4 difficulty settings) to complete special missions. Rankings from each mission are recorded and posted online, where gamers can choose their opponents based on players’ mission stats.
• Enhanced Graphics and Sound: Full HD 1080p output and 5.1ch surround sound allows players to experience the game in total high definition
June 4th, 2009
Roca.:
That’s cool now i want Ninja Gaiden: Sigma 2 i love online games of any kind.
June 4th, 2009
Online co-op is awesome specially in a hack-n-slash game like Ninja Gaiden
June 4th, 2009
Well thank God that bitch will be Co-Op for you guy because that bitch is hard. At least you’ll have Difficulity setting because our Difficulity setting are set to Fuck You. No easy no Normal just Fuck You.
June 4th, 2009
If it is a good game I don’t mind paying to play online.
I think online should be charged as you play. For instance if you don’t play any online for a month then you shouldn’t have to pay. If you do then you pay the standard monthly fee.
I would pay to play on PSN but I just don’t have enough time to play online at the moment.
I loved playing Halo 2 online.
June 4th, 2009
lol Cad.
yeah I hear ya. I heard to play the first on Ninja Dog.
June 4th, 2009
Free to play?
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They better not drag me into the MMO scene with this game. Maybe I’ll rent it, in order to force myself to not get addicted…
-Arvis
June 4th, 2009
Game difficulty = Fcuk You …..
I like it
June 4th, 2009
Game difficulty = Fcuk You …..
lol That reminds me of Resistance Super Human difficulty
June 4th, 2009
mike – what “sources” said it would be free to play? and why do you use unnamed “sources” for most of your pro-ps3 b.s…?
June 4th, 2009
Blorge has contact with a bum that’s slumming it around the LA Convention Ctr. He’s got the scoop…
June 4th, 2009
A cross platform MMORPG with no fee, is like handing out free crack to school children. We’re all going to be doomed.
June 4th, 2009
I’m with Barnabe. Let’s petition to keep the console servers separate and have an unreasonably high monthly fee…
-Arvis
June 4th, 2009
Yeah, but if it really does turn out to be free… I’ll play it until the people at my intervention come and drag me away.
June 5th, 2009
During the conference, Square stated that they would still be supporting XI and that they were in the process of making an expansion for it.
If XI & XIV are going to be existing at the same time, there’s no way one will be free and the other have a fee.
June 5th, 2009
I’m not so sure Barnabe. I think the one main difference here is they will not use Play Online for XIV, so there may be a little bit more difficulty (that may not pay off) to move XI to the same model, especially for those that have been playing XI for years. Not saying it can’t happen, it just may not be in SE’s best interests or worth their time.
If you or anybody would like to talk more about this and keep up with it, I’ve started a thread on Blorge.net here:
blorge.net/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=60
Please stop by, let us know what you think of the piece, if you think XIV will be coming to 360, the chances of the rest of the Final Fantasy’s coming to PSN and possibly XBLA, etc.
June 6th, 2009
Carl, I know you have a PSP. I’m not sure if you’re aware or not, but you can download FF VII through PlayStation .com on your PC or through the PSN on your PSP.
It seems like they took the source file, and dumped it into a downloadable package and then posted it. Meaning that the PS logo, “Present by Sony Computer Entertainment”, references to opening up the PS system, memory slots, and PlayStation’s specific buttons are all still in tact.
The only addition to the game is that the game’s manual & a portion of the strategy guide can be accessed through the XMB. Again, the strategy guide is filled with references to Sony & PlayStation.
If they ever posted FF VII anywhere else, they would need to overhaul the entire game. Asides from the die hard fans, a large majority of younger fans would laugh at playing a PS one game on there next gen console. Sony has the advantage of using the file for the PSP, which probably makes more sense to most people.
Sony published 7-9. Yeah – I am aware that publishing right expire, but the games aren’t THAT old. I’m not sure the publishing rights are a matter of public record. I’ve looked online, but can’t find anything official.
In synopsis, FF VII could be reworked and posted somewhere else one day, but I wouldn’t plan on it. You can play the game today if your really that interested.
June 6th, 2009
Wasn’t FFVII released on PC as well? It seems like that release alone would have minimized most of your concerns. I was aware of the PSP/PSN connection, but I usually don’t game on my PSP when I am able to use the 360/PS2 instead. While it may not appeal to younger fans, it would still most likely be pretty popular on XBLA considering successful sales of even older games.
blorge.net/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=60
June 6th, 2009
Yep, 7 was definitely on PC.
June 9th, 2009
They are talking about the beta here i believe. FFXI did the same thing before they were released by dedicating one server to a free test to make sure the servers will hold up. The beta for FFXIV will also be free but the game will most like be the price like any other PC or PS3 game plus monthly fee. The monthly fee for most MMOs are there for a reason. It is to pay for the maintenance and game problem issues that may occur during gameplay that someone would have to fix quickly.