While most MMOs have long since respawned into the shadow realm, Final Fantasy 11 is out here celebrating its 24th anniversary like the final boss that simply refuses to die. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, the game is not only still running but actively getting new content updates - a feat that would make even the most hardcore Dark Souls speedrunner sweat.
The big anniversary drop? Square Enix is upgrading the free trial to let players jump into Vana'diel with no time limit whatsoever. That's right - you can now sample this ancient relic of an MMO for as long as your heart desires, completely free of charge. For those keeping score at home, this is the gaming equivalent of a free-to-play starter pack that just never expires.
The anniversary was marked with a livestream on the Japanese Square Enix YouTube channel, where the developers laid out what's still cooking for one of the oldest MMOs still in active development. Not the longest-running MMO ever, as RPS points out - but certainly old enough that players who were there at launch could theoretically have grandkids now. Let that sink in.
For context, Final Fantasy 11 launched back in 2002, predating World of Warcraft, the concept of microtransactions ruining everything, and most of the people currently complaining about microtransactions ruining everything. The fact that Square Enix is still patching and updating the game in 2026 is either deeply impressive or deeply unsettling, depending on how you look at it.
If you've ever been curious about the MMO that started Square Enix's massively multiplayer journey - before Final Fantasy 14 swooped in and became everybody's darling - now you've literally got unlimited time to find out. No subscription pressure, no trial timer ticking down like a bomb in a bad action movie. Just pure, unadulterated old-school MMO energy, available whenever you feel brave enough to dive in.
