Final Fantasy XIV Release Date Announced

We have great news for you Final Fantasy XIV fans! Square-Enix has finally announced that after years in development and many months in testing, Final Fantasy XIV is set to go live across the world on September 30th. Also announced were plans for the Final Fantasy XIV Collector's Edition. Players will be able to join the game 8 days before anyone else, with a release date of September 22nd.

The standard edition will go for $49.99 USD. This edition will include a reward code to receive an exclusive in-game item, the Garlond Goggles (which increases the speed of skill progression), and a free 30-day subscription. After the first month is over, the monthly fee will be $12.99 every 30 days.

For the Collector's Edition, which will run for $74.99 at retail, gamers will get a reward code to receive an exclusive in-game item the Onion Helm (which accelerates character recovery after falling in battle); the aforementioned early access to the game; a Behind-The-Scenes DVD with video content, interviews, and more; a Security token that will add an extra layer of security to your game password; a "beautifully-bound" Travel Journal for players to record their adventures with pages that include never-before-seen concept art; a voucher for a personalized Right of Passage certificate stamped with a unique serial number; a special game cover with an illustration by renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano; along with the free 30-day game subscription.

An interesting note is that, with every standard $12.99 subscription, players will get their normal character and 30 days along with one non-playable retainer character -- a non-playable character that provides free item storage and in-game merchant services. Each additional character will cost players $3.00, with a maximum of 8 playable characters per account, and another $1.00 for each additional retainer character.

Here are the minimum system requirements in order to play the game. Players can download the Official Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark software to see if their computer will be able to play the game (mine can't, apparently).

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Operating System
Windows XP SP3 **
Windows Vista 32bit / 64bit SP2 ***
Windows 7 32bit / 64bit ***

CPU
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo (2.0GHz)