Square Enix’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Final Fantasy XIV, will require Game Pass Core or Ultimate along with the game’s own subscription on Xbox.
According to the official website for Final Fantasy XIV, the Free Trial version of the game, including the open beta test, will not require an Xbox Game Pass (Core or Ultimate) plan to play. However, the full Xbox Series X|S version will require an Xbox Game Pass (Core or Ultimate) plan to play.
This is in contrast to PlayStation, where PS Plus is not required to play the PS4 and PS5 versions of Final Fantasy XIV, and only the game subscription is needed to play. Xbox users will, in this case, need to have access to 2 subscriptions in order to play a single game.
Square Enix is planning to launch the Xbox Series X|S version immediately following the conclusion of the open beta test, the date of which will be determined after thorough reviews. Final Fantasy XIV game data will be transferred, and beta participants will not need to re-download the game to play. The timing of the data transfer and official release for the Xbox Series X|S will be announced at a later date.
Final Fantasy XIV was directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida and initially released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Windows in August 2013. The current version replaced the unsuccessful 2010 release, with subsequent support for PlayStation 4, OS X, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S.
Set in the fantasy realm of Eorzea, Final Fantasy XIV takes place five years after the catastrophic Seventh Umbral Calamity, which marked the end of the original version. During the Calamity, the elder primal Bahamut broke free from his imprisonment within an ancient space station called Dalamud, wreaking havoc across Eorzea. Through temporal magic, the player character from the original version managed to escape, reappearing at the beginning of the A Realm Reborn storyline. As Eorzea strives to recover, players must confront a renewed invasion from the Garlean Empire.