FFXIV Players on Xbox are Getting Banned for Typing Out “Free Company”

It’s been about a month since Final Fantasy XIV has launched on Xbox, and it’s an exciting time for all involved… Well, until you start getting banned or censored for saying the silliest things.

Over on the FFXIV subreddit, user TGB_B20kEn has asked for help, stating that they’ve gotten banned from the game by Xbox for simply typing out the words “free company” in their “looking for group” forum posts. The reason for this is that Xbox has deemed it as solicitation, and the user has been banned as a result.

Some context is needed here, perhaps. Free Companies are essentially the FFXIV equivalent of guilds, and players can create or join one to work towards common goals together in the game, such as increasing their FC level for better buffs, or pooling Gil and coordinating to buy an FC house. It’s clear that TGB_B20kEn has been the victim of Xbox’s auto-moderation system, and the story doesn’t quite end there either.

Players are reporting instances of censorship in the in-game chat for simple phrases and commands like “harvest dance.” Some of these examples are hilarious, but they’re also downright making the game feel unplayable because of how much gets censored when you’re playing on Xbox.

At the time of writing, TGB has yet to be unbanned on Xbox, but here’s hoping their customer service will actually do something about it soon and reverse that ridiculous ban.

Final Fantasy XIV is now available on PC and consoles, and the Dawntrail expansion is set to be released in July.