Earlier today, Square Enix announced the start date of the upcoming FFXIV Beta for Xbox, which kicks off on February 21st. However, more information about the build on Microsoft's platform came to light, namely the requirement of a separate sub to play.
Final Fantasy XIV is finally making its way to Xbox after years of fans asking for the legendary MMO, but it seems Microsoft can't get out of its own way by requiring an Xbox Game Pass subscription in order to play. Xbox Game Pass is what took over a standard Xbox Live subscription, giving access to Xbox's online servers as well as its Game Pass library.
This means that in addition to the standard monthly sub you have to pay to play FFXIV already, Xbox users will be required to pay for Microsoft's service as well, making it more expensive than its Sony console counterpart. Sony, for their part, doesn't require a PS+ sub to play Final Fantasy XIV.
Neither Microsoft nor Square Enix have publicly commented on why there is this barrier that PlayStation users don't have to worry about, which seems to make Xbox a less attractive place to play. This has always been a concern for subscription-based MMOs launching on console, where you must pay to play online. Square Enix's Naoki Yoshida has also not minced words when talking about Microsoft's "rules" which prevented Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox in the past.
It should be noted, though, that the Xbox Game Pass subscription will only be required for the "full version" of Final Fantasy XIV, while the free trial (which gets you pretty far in the decade-long story) and the upcoming test won't require one.
We've reached out to both Square Enix and Microsoft for comment/clarification and will report back here if they choose to respond.
