Square Enix announces Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn beta date

Earlier today, Square Enix has finally revealed a date for when the first phase of the beta for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The festivities are set to kick off on February 25th. This closely matches the road map that they posted back in December.

One of the new features that will be included in this roll out will be a system called Full Active Time Events, or FATE, which are sporadic encounters that occur out in the field that anyone around is allowed to participate in and be rewarded for. This reminds me a lot of the final days of the original FFXIV when Square Enix let loose the hounds of war upon the populace, cackling in the background all the while.

Like the alpha, the beta will take place around the forested areas of Gridania, with a limited number of quests being allowable from the main storyline. The developers plan to slowly introduce more and more content in the coming days, including high level dungeons and bringing back content such as Behest (now called Guildhest) system, which allowed players to take on quests that they could obtain from the different camps scattered across the world from Battlewardens that appeared every half hour.

Beta invites are already going out as we post this. If you have yet to sign up for the beta, you may do so by visiting the beta application page. Keep a close eye on your inbox, and look forward to more news about A Realm Reborn as we near its official (re?)release!