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The beta phase for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn on PC will begin in mid-February, with a beta for its PlayStation 3 version following after two rounds of closed access and debugging, producer and director Naoki Yoshida announced on The Lodestone today.
There will be three rounds of closed beta testing and one open round. The first round will last between two and four weeks and will be followed by one to two weeks of debugging. Players will have access to between five and 10 worlds, all races and genders, parts of the main storyline, some sidequests, class-specific quests and certain customization options. The level cap will be 35. Phase one will also begin implementation of the in-game world's time cycle.
The second beta phase will last between one and three weeks and will introduce game pad controller compatibility, Chocobos for private use and exchange of items between Grand Companies.
The PS3 beta will be pushed out with the third round of the PC beta. Servers will no longer be Japan-only and will be available worldwide for overseas stress-testing. All players with Final Fantasy 14 accounts will be able to access the third beta phase and can use their characters from the game's Version 1.0. Players can access more than 20 worlds and all character customization options. The level cap will also be set to 35 or above, to be determined in the future.
The fourth phase will be an open beta, and all characters created during the phase will be available for use with the official release of A Realm Reborn.
A complete chart of the beta "road map" is available on The Lodestone.
