Today marks the beginning of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn‘s beta testing phase. Divided into four segments, the first phase of testing invited fans that participated in the Legacy campaign as well as the alpha testing to participate. If you do not apply to either group, double-check your email for an invite — as a small amount of fans have reportedly been selected to test. If you have yet to apply for beta, you can do so by following this link.

Square Enix recently released the new benchmark for Final Fantasy XIV entitled “Exploration”. Another character creator client will release closer to the game’s launch date. For PlayStation 3 users excited for the game, you too can sign up for beta at the aforementioned link. As beta testing proceeds into Phase 3, console users will be contacted through their corresponding emails.

When all four beta phases complete (the last one being an open beta), A Realm Reborn will launch. Via the road-map director Yoshida released earlier this year, the time frame puts the release date somewhere between mid-April at the earliest — to June at the latest. Depending on the amount of feedback the team gets on the game, as well as assessing critical functions and settling the nitty-gritty game mechanics, expect each phase to have a bit of time frame malleability.

The following is the official launch road-map.

Note to our readers: we’re going to be honoring the NDA on beta content information. Please refrain from posting particulars in the comments below if you do have access. Those comments are subject to be removed. For more information on the non-disclosure agreement, consult the beta tester forum.

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