Xbox finally getting one of the biggest RPGs ever made, and you can try it free

Watch out, Xbox users, your backlog is about to explode. It’s been confirmed that an enormous award-winning MMORPG is on its way to Xbox Series X/S, and once you get sucked in, there’ll be no escape.

What’s your definition of a long game? How lengthy does a title have to be before it can truly be deemed enormous? Having spent the last couple of months pouring all of my free time into Persona 5 Royal and still not reaching the end of its 100+ hour main story, I’d say that’s pretty large. Well, how about a title that can be literally thousands of hours long?

Take a look at the trailer for Final Fantasy XIV Online’s Endwalker expansion below.

Did the trailer give it away? That’s right, I’m talking about the excellent Final Fantasy XIV Online. Square Enix’s mammoth MMORPG is set to land on Series X/S at some point during spring 2024, but an open beta is also launching soon.

Even if you’ve not played the game yourself before, there’s a pretty decent chance that you’ve seen a copypasta meme teasing a chunky free trial, which is something that’ll be available to Xbox users, too. As confirmed in a post on Xbox Wire, the Expanded Free Trial allows new players to play A Realm Reborn from start to finish, as well as the Heavensward and Stormblood expansions all the way up to level 70 (there’s no restriction on playtime).

I tried out Final Fantasy XIV Online myself for the first time last year, and had a genuinely great time with it, as I found that it was the first MMO that didn’t intimidate me with its enormity and chunky menus. It features cat girls, by the way, which might be an important note for some.

Final Fantasy XIV Online’s Xbox open beta will kick off during patch 6.5x, which is expected to roll out at some point in October.