by theygamesFinal Fantasy XIV is finally coming to Xbox consoles after a decade-long console exclusivity period on PlayStation, and the Xbox port of the critically acclaimed MMO includes a quality-of-life feature that fans have been begging for.
While the Xbox Series X|S version of Final Fantasy XIV unfortunately requires players to have an active Xbox Game Pass Core or Ultimate subscription (Xbox Live Gold, basically) to play, Xbox gamers have a key advantage over Warriors of Light on PC and PlayStation. Revealed in the Patch 6.57 Notes, the Xbox Series X|S version of Final Fantasy XIV supports single sign-on authentication, meaning players can skip the log-in process and launch the game directly after linking accounts for the first time.
Normally, booting up Final Fantasy XIV requires players to input their account password every time, even on PlayStation. There are custom launchers on PC that bypass this issue, but it’s an annoying occurrence for most of the player base. If you play Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox, you don’t need to enter your password and the game’s launcher and menus will even show your Xbox gamertag.
Related: FFXIV Dawntrail: What to expect from Beastmaster
Single sign-on functionality will be available in the open beta of Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox, which begins on Wednesday, February 21, and it will remain a feature in the full release later this year. Naturally, Warriors of Light on other platforms are already begging Square Enix to add SSO support to PC and PlayStation since it would make the log-in process a bit more streamlined. Since the feature is being tested on Xbox, hopefully it’ll make its way to PC and PS4/5 with the release of the Dawntrail expansion.
While the Xbox version of Final Fantasy XIV will include all of the expansions and content released over the last decade when it’s fully released later this year, the open beta is only available to new Warriors of Light who have yet to experience the critically acclaimed MMO and its ever-expanding free trial (which now includes the Stormblood expansion).
All progress from the open beta will carry over to the full game, but not all of that content is available during the beta period. The FFXIV Xbox beta only includes the same content and limitations as the game’s free trial, so you can only play until the beginning of the Shadowbringers expansion and you won’t be able to use the market board or certain other features during the beta period. There are no restrictions on playtime, however, so you can play as much as you want and level up multiple Jobs to prepare for the Dawntrail expansion coming later this year.