Final Fantasy XIV Coins explained: What you need to know

Xbox users will have to buy a new type of premium currency in order to play the full version of Final Fantasy XIV, and it's priced so that gamers may have to overspend when trying to purchase Entry monthly subscriptions.

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A bit ago, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox would have two strict requirements. The first is that Xbox Game Pass subscriptions are required to play the MMORPG on Xbox consoles. This a stark contrast to FFXIV on PlayStation, which does not require PS Plus in order to play.

The second mandate was more controversial. The publisher says that Xbox gamers can only pay for Final Fantasy XIV game time and in-game purchases with a new premium currency called FFXIV Coins. It's a subscription-based game, so all users must pay a set fee to play FFXIV on all platforms. It's just that Xbox gamers can't buy game time directly from Square Enix and must first exchange their cash for in-game currency.

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The so-called FFXIV Coins are priced so that Xbox gamers may have to buy more currency than they need in order to play for a single month.

There's two types of Final Fantasy XIV subscriptions, Entry and Standard. Entry is $13 a month whereas Standard is $15 a month. The only difference is the max characters per physical data center; The seasoned FFXIV player would want Standard because they might want more expanded access, whereas the Entry player is focused more so on one character.

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There's just one issue: You can't buy $13 worth of FFXIV Coins. That means users who want to buy into the Entry subscription will need to buy the 1500 FFXIV Coins bundle and overpay by $2 or so each time they purchase coins for game time.

This is by design, of course, and ties into the psychology of microtransactions. Users with a carry-over balance are more likely to spend that currency, but the pricing of in-game goods is usually such that gamers would need to buy even more currency to make up the difference. This trend of mis-matched pricing/redemption is nothing new for gaming.

The FFXIV Coins info site confirms the following:

* FFXIV Coins purchased from the Microsoft Store can only be used on the Xbox version of the game.

* The use of FFXIV Coins is restricted by region. This product will only work with Square Enix accounts designated as "The Americas". Please visit the website at https://sqex.to/qFhMr for information on which countries are officially supported as "The Americas".* FFXIV Coins are redeemed when the FINAL FANTASY XIV application is launched. You will not be able to add Coins to an account with more than 500,000 Coins already held on the account.

FFXIV COINS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE ONCE REDEEMED AND USED TO EXCHANGE FOR IN-GAME SERVICES AND/OR ITEMS.

Ways in which FFIXV Coins are used:

i.Redeem for game time or subscription fees for the Service on the Xbox Series X|S platform.

ii.Redeem for eligible in-game items or additional services purchased through the Mog Station and/or FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Store with prices displayed in FFXIV Coins.