On Tuesday morning, you might have seen an Xbox Wire post announcing that said an open beta for Final Fantasy 14 Online is now available on Xbox Series X/S – if you caught it before it was deleted about an hour later. Xbox has now publicly announced that it made an error in sharing the news.
In a post on X/Twitter, the Xbox Wire team revealed that it “incorrectly posted news” that the Final Fantasy 14 Online open beta was now available on Xbox Series X/S. It also confirmed it would “follow-up” with a correct release date when the open beta is available to Xbox players.
We incorrectly posted news this morning regarding the Final Fantasy XIV Online Open Beta. We’ll follow-up with the correct date when available.
We apologize for any confusion -Xbox Wire Team
— Xbox Wire (@XboxWire) January 16, 2024
It was up long enough, however, to cause quite a bit of confusion among fans.
“Maybe they jumped the gun? No direct store link and not coming up anywhere on my Xbox,” wrote one user on resetera.
I’m just as confused as everyone right now lol
— Klobrille (@klobrille) January 16, 2024
Prior to the post’s removal, the Xbox Wire post revealed that the open beta would support 4K resolution on Xbox Series X and that players on both Xbox Series X and S that played the beta would be able to transfer their progress over to the full release when it is available.
Square Enix announced last July during Final Fantasy Fan Fest that it was bringing Final Fantasy 14 to Xbox’s ninth-generation gaming consoles and that an open beta was scheduled for patch 6.5. Final Fantasy 14 was originally released in 2013 on PS3 and Windows, with ports to PS4, MacOS, and PS5 released in 2014, 2015, and 2021, respectively, making the next port the first time it is coming to Xbox consoles.
Square Enix has released four expansions for Final Fantasy 14 in the years since its release. A fifth one, Dawntrail, is currently developing with a Summer 2024 release window.
In our review of Final Fantasy 14’s most recent expansion, Endwalker, we said: “Final Fantasy XIV’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.”
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.