It may be safe to assume that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will have a larger longterm playerbase in Japan than other territories, and the game heading to Japan’s netcafes only solidifies that theory.
Netcafes function much like South Korea’s PC bangs in that there are special game services for cafe players. This is something we don’t see here in North America, but is a core component of the industry in those territories.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will have one such special game service: players can login and play without a subscription using the participating netcafe’s registration code. Players can come back whenever they want to play, but must subscribe to the game and transfer the character to their account should they want to take a trip around Eorzea at home.
Offering this type of service shows that Square Enix has all their chips on the table with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Though we won’t be seeing the direct effects of this on the NA/EU worlds, the more money coming into the game to fund further development is always a plus.
