Final Fantasy XIV

Thanks to intrepid forumite, Matheous, we have confirmed that the Final Fantasy XIV open beta scheduled to begin on September 1, 2010 has been delayed on European and North American servers. Developers are citing 'critical bugs' as the reason behind the delay.

Square Enix revealed today that the open beta for Final Fantasy XIV would begin earlier than expected. Fans can expect to enter the world of Eorzea beginning August 31st, 2010. Accompanying today's announcement is this latest trailer for the game, which features the game's theme song "Answers" by Susan Calloway.

Fresh from the Final Fantasy XIV Twitter is the announcement that closed beta phase three will end on August 25th and that the open beta will begin in 'early September'.

Square Enix has announced three perks for simultaneous play of both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. Players who link a PlayOnline ID with an active Final Fantasy XI Content ID to a Square Enix account with an active Final Fantasy XIV service account reduce the monthly subscription for FFXI to only $7.00 in addition to a few other bonuses.

Our friends over at FinalFantasyXIVcore.com have let us in on the news that they have translated three interviews with the Final Fantasy XIV team. All three interviews/articles contain some new information which FFXIVcore.com users have graciously translated.

Square Enix has announced that the Collector's Edition PC version of their sophomore MMO effort Final Fantasy XIV will be hitting store shelves on September 22nd, 2010. That's the good news. The bad news? Hopes for a simultaneous release on both the PC and PS3 have been dashed, as the PS3 version won't make it until March 2011.

Final Fantasy XIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka spoke to Eurogamer recently, revealing that the beta test for Final Fantasy XIV will be "starting soon."

Square Enix has released this latest video for Final Fantasy XIV depicting the veritable metamorphosis the game has undergone in the transition from alpha to beta. What do you think of the difference?

Citing a "closed" XBOX Live system, Final Fantasy XIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka explained to Eurogamer.net why Final Fantasy XIV will unfortunately not see a launch on the XBOX 360 platform.

At E3, a member of the Final Fantasy XIV crew was kind enough to give us a rundown of the character creation for the upcoming game.

Our team visited the Square Enix booth at E3 last week where they took Final Fantasy XIV for a spin. Check out the video below for a demo of the game's combat systems.

Square Enix has made available a new benchmark tool for Final Fantasy XIV, the successor to Square Enix's venerable Final Fantasy XI.

Two intrepid spies infiltrated the Square Enix offices in search of top secret information on the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV beta test set to go live sometime this Summer. What they found was the beta's character creation interface, where they then proceeded to explore the customization options on offer for the cat-like Miqo'te race.

The official Final Fantasy XIV website has been updated with a batch of new screenshots and details featuring a number of key Eorzea locations within the city-state of Limsa Lominsa including Fisherman's Bottom, Bismarck, the Coral Tower, and more. The site has also revealed for the first time a world map of the larger world of Eorzea.

MMORPG.com contributor Eric Barnett writes this look at what will happen to Final Fantasy XI when Final Fantasy XIV launches.