Final Fantasy 14 Xbox open beta will kick off next month says director

techradar.com:

Anyone who’s been anticipating the release of Final Fantasy 14 on Xbox Series X|S doesn’t have much longer to wait, as director and producer Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) has confirmed that the open beta will begin next month. 

It was first announced last July that the hit massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) would be coming to Xbox consoles, at which point it was given a “spring 2024” release window, effectively placing it tentatively between the months of March to June. Now though, during theFinal Fantasy 14Fan Festival 2024, which took place in Tokyo over the weekend, Yoshida narrowed this down even earlier to February.

“As far as Xbox goes, we will be beginning the open beta test in February. Our current plan is to begin open beta around the 21st, plans could still change a few days in either direction, but that’s what we’re aiming for,” he said. “I really hope that a lot of Xbox players will get started right from beta and join us in [Final Fantasy] 14, and I look forward to meeting a lot of Xbox players as Warriors of Light in-game.”

Last year, it was announced (via Xbox Wire) that the Xbox Series X version of Final Fantasy 14 will include 4K support, but “both consoles will enjoy fast loading times.” At the time, it was also stated that Series X|S players will be able to try out the copypasta-famous Expanded Free Trial, which will allow them to play throughA Realm Reborn, Heavensward and Stormblood expansions up to level 70, without any playtime restrictions. 

In other Final Fantasy 14 news, during the Fan Festival it was also confirmed that the Pictomancer job (essentially, class) is coming to the game’s upcoming Dawntrail expansion. Placed in the caster DPS (damage per second) role, players will be