When it was first released in 2013, Final Fantasy XIV didn’t really get everyone’s approval. The game struggled to convince both the press and the players. Square Enix’s MMORPG, however, made one of the most spectacular turnarounds in video game history. This multiplayer episode of the famous Japanese saga is now at such a level of popularity that its infrastructure is struggling to keep up. Which pushes his publisher to make a decision that is surprising to say the least.
Square Enix just announced The temporary halt in sales of Final Fantasy 14. This rare and surprising decision was prompted by the game’s over-popularity. Indeed, the MMORPG is currently undergoing such an influx of players that its servers are unable to keep up. For those who didn’t follow everything, this situation was caused by the Early Access launch of the Endwalker expansion.
Consequently, Square Enix is obliged to regulate traffic and stop the arrival of new users. This measure is also all that there is more public and official. Its announcement was indeed made by Naoki Yoshida, the producer and director of Final Fantasy 14. The latter apologizes from the studio for the server congestion that players are facing.
Too many people, not enough room
He explains that almost two weeks after the start of Early Access, a “substantial congestion“persists. And that as the team plans to release several patches soon, they have decided to take measures that are as drastic as they are temporary. As mentioned above, the stoppage of sales of the game is in these last ones:
Players are currently experiencing very long wait times due to dense concentration of playing hours. The latter greatly exceeds the capacity of our servers, especially during peak hours. Therefore, we have decided to temporarily suspend sales of Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition and Complete Edition. In addition, and while people who have an active subscription have priority to connect, Free Trial players cannot connect to the game outside of the late evening and early morning slots. We will therefore also temporarily suspend new registrations for the Free Trial.
Final Fantasy 14 sales stop just before Christmas
Naoki Yoshida explains that these suspensions will be phased in over the next few days. That being said, this isn’t the only surprising announcement Naoki Yoshida had to make. Indeed, the producer also announced the temporary suspension of the display of new advertising campaigns in Final Fantasy 14. Like the stoppage in sales, this interruption is related to traffic issues currently experienced by the game.
The developer explains that to solve these problems caused by the growing popularity of the game, Square Enix planned to build and open a new data center. The COVID-19 pandemic as well as the semiconductor shortage, however, delayed these plans. FF XIV fans as well as the curious will therefore have to take their troubles patiently.
To players who still manage to connect to Final Fantasy 14, Naoki Yoshida announces to finish that the patch 6.05 will be released on time. It is therefore scheduled to be put online on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.
What do you think of this temporary halt in sales of Final Fantasy 14? Does he surprise you? Have you recently had trouble signing in to the game? What are your thoughts on FF XIV as a whole? Tell us all in the comments below.
