Final Fantasy XIV Introducing Account Linking on Steam to Prevent Fraud

By Jason Nieva @jnievaplayerone Published 02/11/22 EST

In a bid to help players secure their accounts and avoid fraud, the Steam version of Final Fantasy XIV is requiring account verification and login confirmation. This new security measure is effective starting early March.

When that time comes, users who log in to the game through Steam will be asked to do a one-time link of their Steam account to their Square Enix account. After that, the Square Enix accounts need to match the Steam account which launches the game. It means that the game must now be launched from the Steam library of the user.

In addition, once the account link has been performed, users need to use the new launcher layout introduced back in Patch 6.0. For those using the “Original Launcher Layout” setting in the launcher Config menu, they need to switch to the “New Launcher Layout.”

In a post, Square Enix revealed that to link accounts, the Steam account needs to have a Final Fantasy XIV license that matches that on the target Square Enix account or Final Fantasy XIV service account. To verify the licenses on the Steam account, users need to:

Click on the Steam display name
Select Account details
Go to Store and Purchase History
Choose View licenses and product key activations

Actions Against RMT

Developer Square Enix has been ramping up security measures to ensure that players enjoy playing the game. Back in late January, they started going after players engaged in illicit activities like real money trading (RMT). These are prohibited under the TOS since it has the tendency to upset the balance of the game. It was revealed that 858 accounts were terminated due to participation in such prohibited activities, with another 81 accounts terminated for RMT advertising.

Since then, Square Enix has been giving updates, and so far, these are the additional results:

January 27 to February 2
- Participation in RMT/prohibited activities
  - Accounts terminated: 2,742
  - Accounts temporarily suspended: 20
- RMT advertising
  - Accounts terminated: 192
- Botting activity (excluding RMT vendors)
  - Accounts temporarily suspended: 4
February 3 to February 9
- Participation in RMT/prohibited activities
  - Accounts terminated: 1,382
  - Accounts temporarily suspended: 5
- RMT advertising
  - Accounts terminated: 216
- Botting activity (excluding RMT vendors)
  - Accounts temporarily suspended: 10