Final Fantasy XIV offers free weekend for inactive players

Lapsed Final Fantasy XIV players will soon be able to jump back into the action on Square Enix's dime, for a few days at least, thanks to a "Free Login Weekend" beginning July 18.

The recently-released 2.3 patch , Defenders of Eorzea, brought some pretty big changes to Final Fantasy XIV. New dungeons, side quests, housing options, crafting skills and more were added to the game, and Square Enix wants to make sure everyone knows about it—especially former players.

To that end, all players with inactive accounts are being offered a chance to check out what's new this weekend at no charge. The free login weekend starts at 12:00 am PDT on July 18 and runs until 12:00 am PDT on July 21.

You will of course need to download the client software in order to play— available here —and while it should probably go without saying, if you're absolutely blown away by the new content and want to keep playing after the weekend is over, you'll need to sign up for a subscription. To determine the status of your account (and thus your eligibility for the free weekend), pay a visit to the Final Fantasy XIV Mog Station .

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.