Square Enix announced today with a press release that the company is going to offer a 14 day-long free trial of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The trial is going to be available starting today.

The website dedicated to the free trial is not up yet at the moment of this writing, but it will be available here at 1 PM EST. Players using the free trial will be limited to level 20.

In addition to that, a "recruit a friend" program will alow players to earn in-game rewards. If you recruit a friend who subscribes for 30 days, both you and your friend will receive a "Friednship circlet" which Increases experience earned by 20% when below level 25. You (but not the friend) will also receive an Aetherite Pendulum which allows you to teleport to the aetheryte closest to New Adventurers on your friend list free of charge.

If your friend subscribes for 90 days you will get a Draught Chocobo Whistle which will allow you to summon a draught chocobo, capable of accommodating a second passenger when partying with others.

Below you can see a picture of the Friendship Circlet and of the Draught Chocobo.

Update: apparently the free trial is available only for PC for the moment.