It’s been nearly a year since Final Fantasy XIV was released and in all that time it had been free to play. However, Square Enix has now announced that the free to play period will finally end over the next couple of months.

Head of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, knows all to well that this decision may upset fans, however, he insists that this is a “necessary step” in order to ensure the game’s future. “I appreciate that this decision will not be popular, but it is a necessary step in building upon the foundation our fans and development team have made together and to realize the full potential of Final Fantasy 14,” he said. Wada also mentioned plans to take the game into a new direction with new software which will be distributed online for free. This new software will not cost players their save data as all character data and progress information will be preserved.

Billing will begin sometime between November and December 2011. There will be emails sent with billing reminders to those with accounts.

SOURCE: Eurogamer