In case you didn't already know, Final Fantasy XIV was removed from sale on digital storefronts — including the PlayStation Store — in December 2021, following the release of Endwalker, the MMO's latest expansion. Why? Well, it was because of sheer popularity. Endwalker was such a colossal hit that the game's servers simply couldn't handle it. Players were forced to sit in virtual queues for up to hours at a time in order to gain access, and those who were lucky enough to get in were sometimes hit with connection issues.
Things got so congested that Square Enix had to place restrictions on who could actually play Final Fantasy XIV. It had no choice but to prioritise existing players who had purchased Endwalker and were ready to jump straight into the expansion. In turn, newer players were denied access entirely — and this led to Square Enix removing Final Fantasy XIV from sale. Crazy!
Final Fantasy XIV will go back on sale on January 25, after it was previously removed from digital store shelves due to a massive influx of players for the new Endwalker expansion.
Publisher Square Enix was forced to remove the base game and its complete edition from sale in December 2021, as the servers began buckling under the pressure of the game simply being too popular.
Players were compensated with 14 days of free play time to make up for the congestion and long queue times, but director Naoki Yoshida explained that a new lockdown on the game servers may be enforced if server stability is threatened again.
Global server capacity is being expanded, with an Oceanian data center opening on January 25, while North American and European data centers will be expanded across multiple phases. This will take time though, as Yoshida explained that the global semiconductor shortage made procuring more server equipment challenging. Currently, Square Enix's plan will see a new data center in Japan opened in July 2022, Europe's expansion will start in July as well, and a two-phase expansion for American regions will commence from August 2022.
"Once again, I wish to apologize for the delays to server expansion caused by the global semiconductor shortage. The necessity for communities to separate due to the regrouping of Worlds is another inconvenience that may prove unavoidable for some players, and we ask for your understanding as we work to alleviate this issue," Yoshida said.
"Despite these hardships, however, we believe this server expansion is a significant step forward in providing players the best gaming experience possible in FFXIV. Work on bolstering the servers will continue well into 2023, expending a vast amount of financial resources and manpower, but we will do our utmost to ensure this endeavor has no negative impact on your ability to play, so we would appreciate your support while you continue on your adventures."
As for the future of Final Fantasy XIV, Yoshida said that more details on future content will be released at the end of February.
Final Fantasy XIV's Endwalker expansion has received high praise from anyone who has been able to access it, with Jenny Zheng writing that the new content is a "fitting, emotional conclusion to a years-long journey for us adventurers," in her Endwalker review.
After being literally too popular to handle following the release of the game's Endwalker expansion, Final Fantasy 14 is set to go back on sale later this month.
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