How long to beat FFXIV and its expansions

You may have heard about the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 14, but like any player apprehensively thinking about dipping their toes into the game, you probably want to know how long it’ll take you to catch up to the current expansion.

The answer? It kind of varies. Below we explain how long it may take for you to beat FFXIV, along with some personal anecdotes to give you an idea of how much game time you’ll pull out of this game.

How long to beat FFXIV and its expansions

Many players report that if you just beeline the main scenario quest only and don’t focus on any other aspect of the game, you’re looking at about 40-60 hours just to beat the base game, A Realm Reborn. Each expansion adds about 40-50 hours of content in story. You’re looking at anywhere from 200-310 hours for story alone as of patch 6.5.

While these hour ranges are pretty big, it kind of depends on how fast you’re able to clear content and how fast you read through cutscenes. If you skip cutscenes (which I don’t recommend), you’re looking at a shorter overall time, but you’re kind of missing out on a big portion of the game by doing so. (You can check out some personal game times on HowLongToBeat, where people provided their hours with how much content they did — and the hours still vary by a ton.)

If you’re slugging through the game right now and you want to know how close you are to completion, there’s a great website, FFXIV-progress, which will tell you how far you are based on which quest you’re on right now.

Image: Square Enix

Tackling side content will potentially add dozens if not hundreds of hours to your game time, too. If you want to stop doing MSQ and make a relic weapon, level up crafters, or learn the ways to become an ocean fishing expert, you’ll be in for a lengthy grind.

That said, the developers themselves encourage you take breaks from FFXIV if you’re feeling burnt out. Play the game at your own pace and do content you think is fun, because with its length, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

For what it’s worth, I admittedly un-subbed and re-subbed a handful of times on and off throughout A Realm Reborn. I started the game technically in 2013 and didn’t actually catch up until 2018. This isn’t uncommon!

If you’re just starting out in the massive world of Final Fantasy 14, we have tons of guides to help you. We have a beginner’s guide to get you started, along with guides detailing when you’ll get your mount and which Grand Company you should join.

If you’re starting but are feeling overwhelmed, we have a guide to help with picking a job.

We also have guides on side content, like ocean fishing, relic weapons, and Island Sanctuary, for those who want to take a break from it all.