FINAL FANTASY® XIV

User Agreement
Square Enix Europe
Effective as of 26 September 2024

PLEASE READ THIS USER AGREEMENT CAREFULLY INCLUDING THE PRIVACY POLICY, COOKIES POLICY, SOFTWARE LICENCE AND SQUARE ENIX ACCOUNT TERMS OF USE REFERRED TO IN CLAUSE 1 BELOW. YOUR PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE AUTO RENEWING SUBSCRIPTION PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN CLAUSE 4 AND THE EXCLUSION CLAUSE AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY CONTAINED IN CLAUSE 10 BELOW.


Introduction

Welcome to FINAL FANTASY® XIV, a massively multi-player on-line game (the “Game” or the “Service”). In order to play the Game, you (“you” or “User”) must first agree to this FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement (“User Agreement”) between you and Square Enix Limited, a corporation registered in England with company number 01804186 VAT registration number 680 9884 78 and registered office address 240 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NW, England (“SQUARE ENIX”, “we” or “us”).

PLEASE READ THIS USER AGREEMENT CAREFULLY AS IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT RULES ABOUT HOW YOU ARE ALLOWED TO PLAY THE GAME AS WELL AS INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS. If you agree to the terms of this User Agreement, please check the box next to the statement “Accept the User Agreement” or “I accept the terms of the above agreement(s)”. By doing so you confirm that you have read and understand the terms of this User Agreement, that all information provided by you in registering for the Service is truthful and accurate and that you agree to be bound by this User Agreement on behalf of yourself and, if you are under the age of 18, on your behalf by your parent or legal guardian. The Game cannot be played by any User under the age of 16 with the exception of Users who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game cannot be played by any User under the age of 12. The Game is not directed to children under the age of 13.

You are responsible for regularly backing up all of your data on any device on which you use the Game at reasonable intervals (given the nature of the data).

If you do not accept this User Agreement, then we unfortunately cannot allow you to play the Game. In that case, you will be able to return the Game to where you purchased it to obtain a refund or exchange. Your rights to obtain a refund of the purchase price for the Game or exchange will be subject to the retailer’s guidelines and any other laws or regulation relating to the return of goods in the country where the purchase was made. It should be noted that, although nothing in this clause affects your right to return goods you have purchased that are faulty, all or a proportion of the refund may be withheld by the retailer if the disk, packaging or documentation has been damaged or if any registration or activation code provided with the Game has been activated in any system or service owned, controlled or operated by Square Enix or as part of the download or installation process of any computer software relating to the Game.


1. YOUR LIMITED LICENSE TO THE GAME AND SERVICE AND LACK OF OWNERSHIP RIGHTS

The Game includes software that is installed on your computer, as periodically updated by SQUARE ENIX (“Licensed Software”), as well as data that SQUARE ENIX maintains on its servers. SQUARE ENIX grants you a limited license to use the Game, which it may terminate in accordance with this User Agreement if you breach this User Agreement. In order to play the Game, in addition to this User Agreement, you must also carefully read and agree to the following:

a) the FINAL FANTASY XIV Software License Agreement (“License Agreement”), which grants you a license to use the Licensed Software required to play the Game located at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2

b) the Square Enix Account Terms of Use located at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=612&la=2&tag=sqexaccount.

c) if you use a Free Trial Account to play the Game, the Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial Terms located at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2&tag=freetrial.

Please read each of the above documents carefully. The License Agreement and Square Enix Account Terms of Use (together the “Related Agreements”) are incorporated by reference into this User Agreement (the User Agreement and Related Agreements shall be collectively referred to as the “Agreements”). Where there is a difference between the terms of this User Agreement and any terms in the Related Agreements the terms of this User Agreement shall be the ones that apply. The terms of this User Agreement shall also take precedence over any conflicting terms in the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Manual.

When you accept this User Agreement we will e-mail the Agreements to you and recommend that you print a copy of the Agreements for your records, as we do not store a copy of the Agreements for you. If you are resident in Germany, the Agreements are concluded in the German language. If we make changes to this User Agreement, we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the contract before the changes take effect and receive a refund for any products paid for but not received.

All aspects of the Game (including but not limited to the Game computer code, updates, patches, expansion packs, characters, character names, character data, virtual items, character profile information, (non-personal) account information, chat transcripts, artwork, plot, dialogue, locations, sounds and music) are owned by SQUARE ENIX or its licensors. You do not own the service account you use to play the Game (“FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account”); Square ENIX only grants you a right to use the FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account to play the Game.

YOU WILL NOT OWN ANY CHARACTER OR OTHER IN-GAME VIRTUAL GOODS, BUT ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO USE SUCH CHARACTERS AND GOODS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR FINAL FANTASY XIV SERVICE ACCOUNT ON A LIMITED (AS SET OUT IN CLAUSE 2), NON EXCLUSIVE ( E.G. OTHER USERS CAN USE SUCH CHARACTERS AND GOODS PURSUANT TO THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENTS), REVOCABLE UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND WITH 15 DAYS NOTICE (E.G. WE CAN STOP ALLOWING YOU TO USE SUCH CHARACTERS AND GOODS), NON-TRANSFERABLE BASIS SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS SET OUT IN THE AGREEMENTS. YOUR FINAL FANTASY XIV SERVICE ACCOUNT AND ANY VIRTUAL GOODS AND CHARACTERS DO NOT HAVE ANY MONETARY VALUE.


2. LICENSE LIMITATIONS

The Game is a carefully controlled environment designed to provide the maximum level of enjoyment for all players. In order to preserve an enjoyable experience for all users, and to protect the intellectual property rights of SQUARE ENIX, the activities identified in this Clause 2 (“License Limitations”) are strictly prohibited and are against the rules of your rights to use the Game. Any use of the Game against such restrictions may result in us stopping you from playing the Game. Use of the Game in excess of these provisions, or use at all after your license is revoked (including loading the Game into your computer’s RAM), infringes SQUARE ENIX’s rights.

Infringing these License Limitations may result in the suspension or permanent banning of your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account, or such other lesser measures described in Clause 3 which SQUARE ENIX may take in its sole discretion instead of a suspension or permanent ban permitted under the Agreements, or an action for copyright infringement or other legal claims, all of which are reserved by us. Offering or providing banned services to other players of the Game is improper interference with SQUARE ENIX’s contracts with such players, and we may take formal legal action against you if you do so, without warning.

SQUARE ENIX may update the list of License Limitations at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 at any time so it is important that you continue to check them on a regular basis. The current License Limitations are as follows:

2.1 Cheating and Botting.

You may not create or use any cheats, bots, automation software, hacks, mods or any other unauthorised software designed to modify the Game and gameplay. In addition, you may not take advantage of game system bugs and exploits during gameplay.

2.2 Real Money Trading, Farming and Fraudulent Transactions.

You may not sell, rent, hire, borrow against, purchase or exchange for real-world money or value any in-game currency, accounts, characters, in-game services, or in-game virtual items. You may not play the Game for the purpose of acquiring virtual items or advancement in game play on behalf of a third-party or for the purpose of selling any virtual assets to a third party for real-world money, specifically including gold-farming and power-leveling services. Further, fraudulent transactions such as purchase of optional item gift codes or illicitly obtained items through resales on unauthorized websites and unofficial reseller websites are prohibited.

2.3 Commercial Use.

You may not exploit the Game for any commercial purpose (for example, advertising any product or service in-game, or use by the operator of a cyber café) without SQUARE ENIX’s prior written consent.

2.4 Private Servers.

You may not create, operate, participate in or use any unauthorised servers intended to emulate the Game.

2.5 Data Mining.

You may not intercept, mine or otherwise collect information from the Game using unauthorised third party software.

2.6 Hacking and Circumvention.

You may not hack, disassemble, decompile, or otherwise modify the Game or server computer code, whether the Game code is located on a DVD, Blu-rayTM disc, your computer/console or on SQUARE ENIX’s servers, except as expressly permitted by SQUARE ENIX or applicable law.

2.7 Modifying or Creating Derivative Software.

You may not modify or cause to be modified any files that are a part of the Game or Service in any way not expressly authorised by SQUARE ENIX, and may not make any derivative works of the Game.

2.8 Spamming/Spimming/Commercial, Political or Ideological Communication.

You may not use (or abuse) the in-game chat and/or message services to distribute advertisements, promote any political, ideological or religious ideas or to otherwise harass players.

2.9 Non-transferable.

Your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account is non-transferable and, therefore, may not be transferred to or used by anyone other than you.


3. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES

In addition to the limitations set out in Clause 2 above, there are other activities (set out below) that you are forbidden from doing in connection with the Game (“Prohibited Activities”). Although your automatic legal rights as a consumer will not be affected SQUARE ENIX may use a variety of methods to deal with violations of this User Agreement and the Prohibited Activities, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

• Issuing a warning;
• Placing a character in a “virtual jail” for a specified period of time;
• Removing or deleting ill-gotten in-game items or currency;
• Temporarily suspending a FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account;
• Permanently terminating a FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account;
• Permanently banning your IP address or residential address, or requesting our payment processing agent to permanently ban your credit card number;
• Bringing a claim against you for breach of contract, copyright infringement, or other claims that may be applicable; and/or
• Asking a court to prevent you from continuing such activity.

As well as this, without affecting your automatic legal rights as a consumer, SQUARE ENIX shall be entitled to terminate any FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account of any User who (1) was previously suspended or terminated by SQUARE ENIX and who SQUARE ENIX can show re-registered using different registration information in order to circumvent or bypass such suspension or termination, or unless you are located in France or Germany (2) SQUARE ENIX believes (in its sole discretion, based upon any information available, including without limitation registration and account information) that such User is enabling or assisting another User to conduct any Prohibited Activities of any kind.

If you are resident in France, in the case of a termination or permanent ban, SQUARE ENIX will give you 15 days’ notice of such action unless you have committed a violation of this User Agreement that prevents SQUARE ENIX from doing so.

Users may also report Prohibited Activities, through the in-game reporting functionality. User reports which will be reviewed and investigated by SQUARE ENIX. Details of how you can report are found here: https://support.eu.square-enix.com/contacttop.php?id=5383&la=2&fty=2. This link may be updated from time to time.

SQUARE ENIX may update the list of Prohibited Activities at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 at any time so it is important that you continue to check them on a regular basis. The current Prohibited Activities are as follows:

3.1 Sharing Account Information.

You may not share your account or log-in information (such as your SQUARE ENIX ID and password) with anyone except your legal guardian, your minor child, or SQUARE ENIX. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and log-in information, even from your friends and family. If you fail to do so, you may unexpectedly lose access to your account and SQUARE ENIX will not have any liability to you for any loss, damage, expense or otherwise arising directly as a result of sharing your account or log-in information. In particular, SQUARE ENIX will not be obliged to credit your account with the amount of any Crysta or other points or awards, which may have been used by a third party as a result of you sharing your account or log-in information. If someone else obtains access to a FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account by use of a User’s SQUARE ENIX ID and password, the User must notify SQUARE ENIX immediately in order to be eligible for any possible remedial action by SQUARE ENIX. SQUARE ENIX will promptly investigate any claim of a compromised FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account and provide appropriate remedies, which may include adding some unexpired Subscription period if the FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account was depleted without authorisation. SQUARE ENIX will however not add any unexpired Subscription period or provide other remedies if the User did not take appropriate steps to protect a SQUARE ENIX Account ID and password, including from members of its own household.

3.2 Disruption.

You may not in any way disrupt or interfere with the Game experience of other players, including without limitation the disruption of SQUARE ENIX’s computers and servers.

3.3 Profanity and Offensive Language.

You may not use profanity or any language that a reasonable person would find offensive. The Game is for players aged 16 and older except players who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game is for players aged 13 and older. You agree to behave accordingly.

3.4 Impersonation.

You may not impersonate any person or entity or fraudulently hold yourself out as a SQUARE ENIX employee, representative, or any other SQUARE ENIX-connected person or being affiliated with any such person or entity. This means you cannot login to someone else’s account or deceive or mislead other people as to your identity. We encourage users to safeguard their privacy, remain anonymous, and never give out personal information to other users.

3.5 Names Of Characters

You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to SQUARE ENIX or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product or superhero).

3.6 Any Illegal Activities.

You may not conduct any illegal activities whatsoever in connection with the Game. This includes every illegal activity not specifically highlighted above, including without limitation gambling, defamation, harassment and/or fraud.

3.7 False Account Information.

You may not provide SQUARE ENIX with false information during the registration process.

3.8 Chargebacks.

You are giving us permission to collect all fees charged under this User Agreement until you properly deactivate your account. Therefore, you may not falsely notify your credit card or debit card provider that you did not authorize the automatic recurring charge and you may not reverse any SEPA direct debit. If you do initiate a chargeback or reverse a SEPA direct debit, then SQUARE ENIX reserves the right to suspend the concerned FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account pending payment. If you have used any of the SQUARE ENIX services for which the reversed payment applied and do not make the according payment within a reasonable grace period set by SQUARE ENIX, then SQUARE ENIX reserves the right to suspend all of your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Accounts until the balance is paid. If you are using a parent or legal guardian’s credit card or bank account, you must have their authorization for recurring billing.


4. BILLING PROCEDURES, CANCELLATION RIGHTS AND RECURRING TRANSACTIONS

4.1 FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees.

In order to access SQUARE ENIX’s servers to play the Game, you choose a recurring subscription package (“Subscription”) with a minimum subscription period of 30 days and pay a recurring subscription fee (“FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee”), which includes the fees for one or more playable character(s) (“Playable Character(s)”) plus two free non-playable characters (“Retainer Character(s)”). You may activate a limited number of Playable Characters determined by your chosen Subscription A list of current Subscription options can be found here https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/. SQUARE ENIX may increase the number of free Retainer Characters provided to you in its sole and absolute discretion by notifying you in writing.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees are subject to change at any time, and any changes to those rates will be posted with 30 days’ advance notice and notice will be provided to the Game community and by email to Users’ registered addresses. For clarity, any notice of an increase in rates will not affect the then-current subscription term and you are not obliged to continue your subscription at the increased cost. If you do not agree with the increased rate, your subscription ends at the end of your then-current subscription term. All FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees are billed in advance. All FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees are non-refundable, unless the circumstances set out in Clause 4.8 below or any other circumstance described in this User Agreement apply to you, in which case a full or partial refund may be provided for.

4.2 Additional Purchases.

Users may purchase additional Retainer Characters and/or other in-game items (together the “Additional Purchases”) during and/or after expiry of the Free Period (see below) for a one-time and/or recurring fee (as applicable). Note: Any Additional Purchases made during the Free Period will require a valid Subscription for continued use after expiry of the Free Period. Any fee for Additional Purchases shall be incorporated into your FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee after expiry of the Free Period. You may cancel the purchase of any Additional Purchase within 14 days of the date of purchase. Please note that downloading or accessing any Additional Purchases during those 14 days will result in you waiving your right to cancel the purchase of any Additional Purchases. Certain in-game items may only be associated with one Playable or Retainer Character (“Character”). A list of current in-game items available to purchase can be found here https://sqex.to/Msp. SQUARE ENIX may amend the availability and pricing of any Additional Purchases within the Game at any time in its sole and absolute discretion without notice.

4.3 Thirty Days of Free Play Included with New Purchase of Licensed Software.

The first 30 days of gameplay (“Free Period”) is included with your purchase of the Licensed Software in new, unopened condition from an authorised vendor when it is registered to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account for the first time. You may input your credit or debit card details or select the Crysta or Time Card payment option (if available in your country) at any time in order to continue playing the Game beyond the Free Period. You are only entitled to one Free Period per purchase of Licensed Software per platform registered to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account and this entitlement to a free Period cannot be transferred to any subsequent owner of the media (such as the CD) on which the Licensed Software is contained. For clarity, if you register two different platform versions of the Game to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account for the first time, you will receive 60 days of total Free Period. No later than day 25 of the 30 day Free Period you will be sent a reminder notice by email to your registered email address and as an in-Game notice that the Free Period is about to expire and reminding you to register your subscription if you wish to pay and play after the Free Period has expired (the “Reminder Notice”). After the Free Period has ended, your right to continue to play the Game will stop unless you have taken out a recurring Subscription as required under Clause 4.1. If you entered your payment details prior to or during a Free Period and do not wish to continue to play the Game after the Free Period has expired, no Subscription charges will be made to the credit or debit card that you provided and you will no longer have access to the Game as long as you deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account before 12pm GMT on day 30 of the Free Period in accordance with the deactivation procedure set out in Clause 4.9 of this User Agreement. It is your responsibility to cancel your Subscription in accordance with the preceding sentence. No further notices or reminders will be issued. If you are accidently charged within the Free Period for a Subscription, please contact the Square Enix Support Centre at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2for information on how you can obtain a refund. Please note that if you elect to continue your Subscription after the Free Period ends, this charge would properly apply for your next Billing Cycle and a refund will likely be unnecessary. Note: Fees for Additional Items are expressly excluded from the Free Period and shall apply as stated at the point of purchase.

4.4 Recurring Subscription.

When the Free Period ends, the recurring FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee will be charged in full at the beginning of each chosen billing cycle using the payment method that you have chosen to pay for your Subscription (“Billing Cycle”). Billing Cycles are discussed in Clause 4.5 below. SQUARE ENIX will provide prior notice of an impending charge during the login process or via email to your registered email account. Subject to the limited exception for initial charges for certain new FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees explained in Section 4.4(a), all recurring fees will be combined in a single FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee billed on the same date in advance, no matter when in the Billing Cycle any particular option (for example, one time password tokens or World Transfer requests) was added to the account.

If you select a longer Billing Cycle, the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee charged at the beginning of each Billing Cycle will include the chosen period (meaning, if you choose a 90-day Billing Cycle, you will pay for all 90 days at once). All charges will be automatically charged to your pre-selected payment method, and once you have been charged for a given Billing Cycle that charge is non-refundable, unless the circumstances set out in Clause 4.8 below apply to you). You agree to pay the appropriate amount each Billing Cycle until you notify us that you wish to deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account. You can also deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account here https://sqex.to/Msp(You must be logged in to your Square Enix Account) or by following the procedures explained at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. If you deactivated before the beginning of the next Billing Cycle, yet were billed for the next Billing Cycle, please contact the Square Enix Support Centre at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/contacttop.php?id=903&la=2for information on how you can obtain a refund.

(a) Pro-Rated Billing for upgrading Subscription.

You may upgrade your Subscription at any point during a Billing Cycle subject to payment of any additional FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees. If you upgrade to a higher priced Subscription in the middle of a Billing Cycle, the additional FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee for that Subscription will be adjusted on a pro-rated basis and charged immediately, subject to our minimum transaction fee. (For example, if you upgrade a Subscription on the 15th day of a 90 day Billing Cycle, you will be billed for the remaining 76 days in your 90-day Billing Cycle.) However, the minimum transaction fee allowed by our billing system at any time when adding a new Subscription is currently €1/£0.70 as a result even if the pro-rated charge would otherwise be less than €1/£0.70 you will still be charged a minimum of €1/£0.70. This minimum transaction fee is subject to change but we will notify you of any changes we make. Please be aware of this minimum transaction fee if you decide to upgrade a Subscription less than 30 days before the end of your Billing Cycle. NOTE: there will be no minimum transaction fee charged if you pay for Subscriptions using Crysta or a Time Card (if available in your country).

(b) Downgrading Subscription.

You may downgrade to a lower priced Subscription at any time. However, the change will not take place until the end of the current Billing Cycle. Any reduction in the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee is not refundable.

(c) Time Cards.

Within certain territories you may be able to purchase a time card for a fixed fee which will grant you access to the Game for a designated period of time as indicated on the time card (“Time Card”) and subject to any specific terms and conditions attached to the Time Card as notified to you when you purchase the Time Card. Any period of game time associated with a Time Card shall only be added to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account at the end of any existing Billing Cycle. Upon expiry of the Time Card, you will need to setup a new Subscription or add an additional Time Card to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account for continued access to the Game. SQUARE ENIX will provide prior notice of an impending expiry of a Time Card during the login process or via email to your registered email account.

(d) World Transfers.

You may request to transfer your in-game Playable Character from one world within the Game to another world for a fee (which will be notified to you before you confirm the transfer) and subject to the conditions and restrictions as updated by SQUARE ENIX from time to time found here; https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/. Note: Any Retainer Characters associated with a Playable Character will be automatically transferred to the destination World upon successful transfer of the Playable Character.

(e) Gift Codes.

You may purchase and/or redeem a gift code in order to gift and/or receive certain Additional Purchases subject to the conditions and restrictions as updated by SQUARE ENIX from time to time found here;

4.5 Billing Cycles.

A single Billing Cycle will apply to all recurring FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees. When you first register to play the Game or first commit to a Subscription, you will be given an opportunity to increase the default 30-day Billing Cycle to 90 days or 180 days. If you choose to increase the length of your Billing Cycle, you will be rewarded with a reduced FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee. Please note that you are only receiving a discounted monthly FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee because you are agreeing to pre-pay for a longer period. Unless you are automatically entitled to a refund under the relevant consumer law in the country you purchased your subscription (for example because you are unable to play the Game due to our technical faults) no refunds will be given if you choose to stop playing the Game before the pre-paid period ends and so you should not change the default 30-day Billing Cycle unless you are prepared to pre-pay for the longer Billing Cycle. Please note that Billing Cycles are equivalent to the length of your recurring Subscription term, or “Period Length,” a term that appears throughout your user manual.

4.6 Changes to Billing Cycles.

You may increase or decrease the length of subsequent Billing Cycles at any time. However, the change will not take place until the end of the current Billing Cycle. For example, if you agree to a 90-day Billing Cycle and decide 15 days later to reduce it to a 30-day Billing Cycle, the change will not occur until the 90-day Billing Cycle has ended, at which time, you will be switched to a 30-day Billing Cycle.

4.7 Failed Transactions.

If SQUARE ENIX’s attempt to charge/debit your pre-selected payment method fails, you may lose access to the Game when your Subscription expires until you resolve the issue. If you have lost access, your next Billing Cycle will begin on the date you successfully pay. SQUARE ENIX does not charge late fees or interest for access to the Game. SQUARE ENIX will not be liable for any loss of game play/character history/Crysta/Time Card or other in-game assets lost as a result of any suspension or loss of access by any user to the Game pursuant to this Clause 4.7. We may refuse SEPA direct debit as a payment method if there are indications of fraud. We will notify you if SEPA is not or no longer available as a payment method for you.

4.8 Where we will refund.

The entirety of your FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee and/or fees for any Additional Items purchased are applied by SQUARE ENIX to the FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account on the day that it is charged. All charges related to the Game are non-refundable unless external criminal activity is involved or a refund is required as a result of any law or regulation in the relevant country where the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee has been paid (for example because you are unable to play the Game due to our technical faults). Therefore, if you deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account in the middle of a 90-day Billing Cycle, you will not receive a refund for the remainder of the Billing Cycle, but may continue to play the Game until the Billing Cycle ends.

However, if SQUARE ENIX revises the License Agreement or this User Agreement and you reject either when they are first presented to you for acceptance, you will be required to deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account and will immediately lose access to the Game. In such circumstances SQUARE ENIX shall refund you a portion of the most recently-billed FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee.

4.9 Deactivation of Subscription.

You may deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account at any time here https://sqex.to/Msp(You must be logged in to your Square Enix Account) or by following the procedures explained https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. Other than the exception explained in Clause 4.4(a), no further billing related to the deactivated FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account will occur until you reactivate by following the procedures explained at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 If you believe that you have been accidently charged by SQUARE ENIX after you deactivated, please contact the SQUARE ENIX Support Centre at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/contacttop.php?id=903&la=2 for information on how you can obtain a refund.

If you are resident in France or Germany you may also cancel your subscription and contract in any way that is permitted by applicable law, for example using a cancellation button or by contacting the SQUARE ENIX Support Centre.

4.10 Reactivation of FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account.

You may reactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account at any time, so long as the Game is still made available by SQUARE ENIX and account-related data has not been deleted or corrupted. If you reactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account prior to the end of the current Billing Cycle (meaning, while you still have access), you will retain your original Billing Cycle and will not have to pay another FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee for that period. Otherwise, your new Billing Cycle will commence on or about the first day you reactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account (subject to adjustment by SQUARE ENIX).

4.11 About FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Accounts.

You may have no more than eight FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Accounts attached to a single SQUARE ENIX Account.

4.12 Cancellation Rights.

Apart from any Free Period (during which you can deactivate your Subscription at any time before 12pm on day 30 of the Free Period), if you are contracting with us as a consumer, you may cancel your Subscription within 14 days of the date of first agreeing to take out a Subscription, by following the procedures explained at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. Please note that, apart from during any Free Period, starting or continuing to play the game during those 14 days will result in you waiving your right to cancel your Subscription. Where you exercise your cancellation right in accordance with this Clause 4.12 you will receive a full refund of the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee for the Billing Cycle you agreed to take out at the beginning of the Subscription. A refund of the relevant FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee shall be the maximum extent of our liability in respect of the cancellation of the Subscription in question.

4.13 Refund Requests.

To request a refund, please contact FINAL FANTASY XIV Customer Services here https://support.eu.square-enix.com/contacttop.php?id=903&la=2.


5. AVAILABLITY OF THE SERVICE

From time to time, in order to provide our customers with the optimal gaming experience, it is necessary for SQUARE ENIX to conduct routine maintenance on the computers and/or servers that support the Game. During these times, access to the Game or support services may be interrupted. Access may also be temporarily suspended in whole or in part, without notice, due to emergency repairs, fire, flood, explosion, war, strike, embargo, governmental action or failure to act, the act of any civil or military authority, act of God, or by any other causes beyond SQUARE ENIX’s control.

If you are resident in France, in the event that the Game is suspended for a period longer than 5 days, and provided that the interruption is not due to reasons outside of SQUARE ENIX’s control, we will refund you a pro rata amount of your Subscription Fee, equivalent to the period of interruption.


6. INTERNET ACCESS AND EQUIPMENT

You are solely responsible for obtaining and maintaining, at your own expense, all equipment (such as modems, computers, or videogame consoles) and Internet access necessary to play the Game, and for ensuring such equipment and services are compatible with all requirements of the Game.


7. BUDDY PASSES

Certain packages of FINAL FANTASY XIV come with a special registration code (“Buddy Pass”) that will allow a holder to invite a friend to try aspects of FINAL FANTASY XIV for a limited time on a complimentary basis. If you have a Buddy Pass, you may lend your Licensed Software to another person for this purpose only. Clause 2.1 of the License Agreement you previously entered into is hereby temporarily modified to allow for the limited and restricted use of the Licensed Software in connection with a Buddy Pass. In order to be able to play the Game the user of the Buddy Pass will have to agree to a series of agreements, including but not limited to: the License Agreement, the Square Enix Account Terms of Use and this User Agreement.


8. TERM AND TERMINATION

This User Agreement will begin when you indicate your acceptance to it and will remain in effect until terminated. You may terminate this User Agreement at any time without notice effective at the end of the then-current Billing Cycle.

SQUARE ENIX reserves the right to discontinue publishing the Game in your country at any time. If SQUARE ENIX is going to discontinue the Game we will let you know at least 30 days in advance of doing so. Following those 30 days the User Agreement will be terminated for all affected Users and all affected Users shall be refunded a pro rata amount of all or any FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee paid for the remainder of the Billing Cycle in which the Service was discontinued by SQUARE ENIX. As described in Clause 3 (Enforcement for Violations) above, breach of this User Agreement may result in your license to use the Game being cancelled. Each Party’s statutory right of termination for good cause remains unaffected. Upon termination of this User Agreement, the License Agreement or the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, you must uninstall, delete and/or destroy all copies of the Game (including all of its component parts) in your possession. The following Clauses shall continue to be in force following termination of this User Agreement: 1 (excluding the terminated licence to play the Game), 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10.


9. GENERAL TERMS

9.1 Damage Caused By You

You shall be responsible for any losses, expenses, and other costs which SQUARE ENIX incur which are culpably caused by your usage of the Game in breach of the Agreements, your engagement in Prohibited Activities, and/or arising out of or related to content you submit, post, link to, transmit, or make available through the Game, your violation of this User Agreement, or your violation of any rights of another User.

9.2 Disclaimer of Warranties.

(a) ASIDE FROM THE EXPRESS WARRANTY PROVIDED WITH THE LICENSED SOFTWARE,AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS USER AGREEMENT AND THE WARRANTIES THAT WE WILL PROVIDE THE GAME WITH REASONABLE CARE AND SKILL, THAT THE GAME WILL BE OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY AND FIT FOR ITS PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND THAT SQUARE ENIX HAS THE RIGHT TO SUPPLY THE GAME, SQUARE ENIX EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL EXPRESS WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, CONDITIONS OR TERMS, REGARDING THE GAME.

In the event of a defect of SQUARE ENIX’ performance hereunder, your statutory warranty rights apply, provided for clarity that any damage claims are subject to the limitation of liability clause below.

(b) If you are resident in England and Wales, you have a right for digital content and digital services to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Your statutory warranty rights include a right to repair or a replacement. For digital content, if the fault can't be fixed, or if it hasn't been fixed within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, you can get some or all of your money back. If you can show the fault has damaged your device and we haven't used reasonable care and skill, you may be entitled to a repair or compensation. For digital services, you can ask us to repeat or fix a service if it's not carried out with reasonable care and skill, or get some money back if we can't fix it. If a price hasn't been agreed upfront, what you're asked to pay must be reasonable. If a time hasn't been agreed upfront, it must be carried out within a reasonable time.

9.3 Informal Dispute Resolution.

It is SQUARE ENIX’s goal to informally resolve legitimate consumer disputes without having to resort to the court system. Therefore, prior to filing any formal legal action against SQUARE ENIX, we hope that you will attempt to informally resolve your grievance by sending us a detailed letter with current contact information by Recorded Delivery to Square Enix Limited marked for the attention of the Legal Department, 240 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NW, England. SQUARE ENIX aims to respond to such letters within thirty (30) days to attempt to resolve the dispute. In addition, please note that the European Commission also provides for an online dispute resolution platform, which you can access here: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. We are not obliged or willing to participate in dispute resolution before a consumer dispute resolution board.

9.4 Loss and Damage Suffered By You

(a) Unless you are resident in Germany, the following provisions apply:

If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen.

We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the Game including the right to receive the Game which is: as described and match information we provided to you and any sample or model seen or examined by you; of satisfactory quality; fit for any particular purpose made known to us; supplied with reasonable skill and care; and for defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

If the Game damages a device belonging to you and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation. However, we will not be liable for damage which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply an update offered to you free of charge or for damage which was caused by you failing to correctly follow installation instructions or to have in place the minimum system requirements advised by us.

We are not liable for business losses. We only supply the Game for domestic and private use. If you use the Game for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

(b) If you are resident in Germany, the following provisions apply:

SQUARE ENIX’ liability is unlimited for personal injury, gross negligence, intent, to the extent SQUARE ENIX has given a guarantee (which must be expressly designated as such in order to be a guarantee in the legal sense), and under the German Product Liability Act. In any other case, SQUARE ENIX is liable for slight negligence only in the event of breach of an essential contractual obligation (defined as an obligation that must be performed in order to achieve the purpose of the contract, so that the customer may generally rely on its performance). Liability for slight negligence under the preceding sentence is limited to typical and foreseeable damage. Typical and foreseeable damage is limited for each Billing Cycle to the amount paid by customer for such Billing Cycle. If SQUARE ENIX is liable in principle according to the foregoing clause for any loss of data, such liability is further limited to the amount that would be necessary to restore such data if reasonable regular backups had been made. Strict no-fault liability for initial defects pursuant to Sec. 536a of the German Civil Code is excluded (i.e. SQUARE ENIX is not liable if it has not acted at least negligently). The foregoing limitations of liability apply accordingly for the benefit of any directors, officers, employees and agents of SQUARE ENIX.

9.5 Preventing Square Enix from exploiting the Game

In no event will you be entitled to ask a court order to stop or interfere with SQUARE ENIX’s right to exploit the Game or with the distribution, operation, development, or performance of the Game or any related products or services.

9.6 Choice of Law and Venue.

This User Agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales, however if you are resident in a country of the European Union or Australia there may be certain mandatory applicable laws of your country that apply for your benefit and protection in addition to or instead of certain provisions of the laws of England and Wales. You can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Game in the courts of England and Wales, however if you are resident in a country of the European Union or Australia you can choose to bring legal proceedings either in your country or in England and Wales.

Please note, legal proceedings may also be brought by you where you dispute (i) the removal of any content you submit, post, link to, transmit, or make available through the Game in breach of this User Agreement, or (ii) being suspended or banned from the Game in breach of this User Agreement.

9.7 User Disputes.

You shall be solely responsible for resolving any and all disputes that may arise between you and other Users in connection with the Game, and for paying any and all expenses incurred by you in connection with resolving such dispute. SQUARE ENIX shall not be responsible for mediating or resolving any such disputes and shall have no liability to you or to any third party for any costs, fees, expenses, damages or other losses incurred in connection with or as a result of any such disputes.

9.8 Severability.

If any provision of this User Agreement is determined by any court to be invalid or unenforceable the remaining provisions of this User Agreement will, continue in full force and effect.

9.9 No Waiver.

If SQUARE ENIX delays enforcing any term, provision or condition of this User Agreement that shall not mean that it will not be able to enforce any other term, provision or condition of this User Agreement.

9.10 Assignment.

SQUARE ENIX may transfer or delegate in its sole discretion its rights and obligations under this User Agreement to a third party at any time without notice to Users. If the transfer is likely to affect your rights, we will notify you prior to its implementation. You may then contact us to end the contract before the transfer takes effect. Each User’s rights cannot be transferred.

9.11 Entire Agreement.

In the event there is any difference between this User Agreement and the Related Agreements, the terms of this User Agreement shall be the ones that apply. Where something is not covered in this User Agreement, the terms of the License Agreement, the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, or the Privacy Policy and/or Cookies Policy (as applicable) shall continue to apply.

9.12 Changes to this User Agreement.

(a) Unless you are resident in Germany, the following provisions apply:

SQUARE ENIX may make changes to any of the terms of this User Agreement or the way that the Game operates from time to time.

SQUARE ENIX will notify you of such changes in one of the following ways: through a patch, email, or postal mail,. We may also post a patch update website posting, pop-up screen or in-game notice. If you do not agree to any such change or modification, you may terminate this User Agreement by uninstalling the Licensed Software and destroying your copy (ies).You will be entitled to receive a pro-rata refund of any FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee if such termination takes place in the middle of a Billing Cycle by following the instructions at https://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. Your continued use of the Game following any revision to this User Agreement that has been notified to you will demonstrate your full acceptance of any and all such changes.

(b) If you are resident in Germany, the following provisions apply:

This User Agreement can be amended as follows in the event this is required by a change in laws, including case law, or similarly compelling reasons, and provided the change does not modify the parties’ main performance obligations to User’s detriment: SQUARE ENIX communicates the amended conditions before intended effectiveness in written form (email sufficient) and highlights the provisions to be amended as well as the date of the intended entry into force. SQUARE ENIX grants User a reasonable, at least six (6) weeks period to approve or object to the amended User Agreement. If SQUARE ENIX does not receive any declaration from User within this period, which begins with receipt of the written announcement, the amended User Agreement is deemed agreed. SQUARE ENIX will inform User separately about the legal consequences at the beginning of the period, including the right to object, the period to object and the legal relevance of remaining silent.