Final Fantasy XIV‘s free trial just got significantly bigger – Square Enix has expanded it to include Shadowbringers, raising the level cap from 70 to 80 and handing new players one of the most acclaimed expansions in MMO history at no cost. The change rolled out automatically with Patch 7.5 on April 28, updating existing free trial accounts without requiring any action on the player’s side.
The scope of what’s now included is genuinely staggering for a free offering. Alongside the full Shadowbringers main scenario – widely regarded as the game’s storytelling peak – trial players now get access to:
- Gunbreaker and Dancer – the tank and physical ranged DPS jobs introduced in Shadowbringers
- 13 new dungeons with Trust system support for levelling with NPC companions
- 7 trials and 8 extreme variants, plus the full Eden raid series (12 fights including savage tiers)
- NieR: Automata alliance raids across all 3 wings
- Bozjan Southern Front field operations – the source for rare dyes including Jet Black and Pure White
- Viera and Hrothgar races (both genders), completing the full current race roster for free players
Blue Mage progression also now lets trial players fully catch up to subscribers, and the Ishgardian Restoration content is open in its entirety – including new NPCs and crafting recipes.
This is a genuinely smart move by Square Enix, and it follows a clear pattern – the trial added Heavensward in 2016, Stormblood in 2018, and now Shadowbringers in 2025, each time spiking registrations and pulling lapsed players back into the ecosystem. With over 30 million registered players worldwide and Patch 8.0 already reshaping the game’s future, expanding the trial keeps the funnel wide open ahead of players eventually buying into Dawntrail. As YouTuber MrHappy1227 put it, this is “another expansion given to us for free with no restriction on playtime” – which, in an era where subscription models are being quietly squeezed across the industry, is a remarkable sentence to write about an MMO. It also positions FFXIV well against rivals struggling to justify their own access tiers, a tension not entirely unlike what Xbox has been navigating with Game Pass.
Are you a brand-new player finally taking the plunge now that Shadowbringers is free, or a lapsed Warrior of Light coming back to finally finish that MSQ? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news and Final Fantasy XIV coverage.
