Final Fantasy XI Beta Disc To Be Cover-Mounted In West

Officials from British magazine publisher Future Publishing have announced that that the beta version of massively multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy XI for the Xbox 360 will be included for free as a cover-mounted extra on the new North American, British, French, Italian and German editions of Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine. The 2002-debuting title has already been released on PlayStation 2 and PC, but the release of the full game on the Xbox 360 next year will be the first time any Square Enix product has been available on a Microsoft console format. The beta version of the game was bundled for free with Japanese Xbox 360 consoles, but the cover-mounting of the beta release will be particularly welcome in Europe, where the PlayStation 2 version, and attendant PlayStation 2 hard drive, was never released. "The Final Fantasy XI development team are delighted to welcome Xbox 360 adventurers to Vana'diel," said Hiromichi Tanaka, producer of Final Fantasy XI. "With this powerful system, these new members of the Final Fantasy XI community have a fantastic journey ahead. The beta tests will give players a taste of the excitement that is Final Fantasy XI." James Ashton-Tyler group publisher for Xbox 360: The Official Magazine added: "I'm delighted that Square Enix chose Future as their partner for this pioneering international project. The readers of Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine readers are amongst the most passionate and hardcore gamers on the planet and are therefore ideal to test a major game of this magnitude before release. It's fantastic that our magazines, on sale in multiple markets, can give readers the chance to play a truly immersive Xbox 360 game months before anyone else and we look forward to joining our gamers on this exciting adventure."