FF14 Mobile announces new feature paywalls to fight ‘black market’ trading

We’re still waiting on confirmation of the FF14 Mobile global launch date, but it could feature one key change that’s just been announced for the ongoing Chinese version. In a new update, developer Lightspeed Studio says it is introducing trading restrictions that will require a minimum spend in the free-to-play MMORPG before players can access features such as the market board, player trades, and Free Company chests.

I’ve been impressed by what we’ve seen of Final Fantasy 14 Mobile so far – while it’s not going to rip me away from the desktop version of one of our best MMORPGs, the prospect of exploring Eorzea on the go is very appealing. The game’s currently available Chinese launch version covers most of base FF14 2.0, essentially the launch version of A Realm Reborn. You can even take on the first raid, the Binding Coil of Bahamut, along with the Labyrinth of the Ancients from the Crystal Tower alliance raid.

Long-running FF14 content creator Michael Poveromo, best known as ‘Mrhappy1227,’ has been covering the launch of the mobile version extensively, and now highlights an developer update posted via Bilbili and translated by the FF14 Mobile English community Discord. It addresses ‘black market’ activity, which most commonly refers to practices such as using bots to farm gil, other currencies, or items and transfer them to other accounts.

The post reads, “To address the impact of black market activities on the game’s economy, after the July 11 update, we will be disabling all trading functions (including the market board, face-to-face trading, and Free Company chest usage) for all players. These features will only be available to characters with a cumulative top-up of 30 yuan or more. Simultaneously, we will be accelerating the rollout of more measures to combat black market activities.”

This means you’ll be blocked from every way to move items to other characters until you’ve spent a cumulative total of 30 yuan (approximately $4.18). While there’s no guarantee the change will be permanent, or if it will come to the global version, it would be in line with the way its older brother works. Regular FF14 famously offers a free trial (up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime), but free-to-play users can’t make use of any trading features. They also cannot send friend requests or direct messages, although they can receive both.

Of course, there is a slight difference in that FF14 Mobile is built as a primarily free-to-play experience, as opposed to its subscription-led sibling. In addition to this change, Lightspeed is also lowering the gil rewards from the game’s Main Scenario Quests (presumably to cut down on the ease of farming gil by rapidly progressing the story on alternate accounts). “In the future, gil rewards will be added to other in-depth, high-activity gameplay,” it notes.

In addition to this, the ‘monthly subscription card’ currently offered will now award players an additional 20,000 gil per day, with compensation offered to anyone who’s already been claiming it to account for the days that have already passed. We’ll have to wait for more news on the FF14 Mobile launch in other territories to discover whether these changes make it into the global version.

While we anticipate fresh news on that, take a look through the free PC games we recommend playing in 2025. If you’re looking for a way to play FF14 on the move right now, you’ll want the best gaming handheld, and we’ve rated the big names in detail.

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