Final Fantasy XI free of charge until July

Square has announced on its PlayOnline Web site that Final Fantasy XI, its PS2 online RPG, will be free of charge until July. The PlayOnline service, which lets users play Final Fantasy XI and Tetra Master, launched on May 16, but the servers have been facing moderate technical problems since the first day. The game is currently playable, though there still are scheduled downtimes for maintenance on a semiregular basis. The monthly fee for Final Fantasy XI is priced at 1,280 yen per month, and an additional 100 yen is charged for each additional character on players' accounts.