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!
Good news, though: Final Fantasy XIV will return to the PlayStation Store later this month, on the 25th January. What's more, the development team is expanding each of the game's regional data centres, which should help with any future congestion.
However, there's no guarantee that Final Fantasy XIV won't get completely and utterly swamped all over again, once the game is back on sale. If it comes to it, Square Enix will eventually have to re-remove the MMO — which, let's be honest, would be a truly ridiculous turn of events.
"Once again, I wish to apologize for the delays to server expansion caused by the global semiconductor shortage," writes director and producer Naoki Yoshida.
"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."
Do you play Final Fantasy XIV? Has all of this impacted your time with the MMO at all? Walk towards the end in the comments section below.
[source na.finalfantasyxiv.com]
Comments 15
You know a game is that popular when they have to stop selling it to keep up with demand.
GG Square-Enix. Thats some turnaround from the sorry state it was originally in.
CDPR.. take note.
Part of me’s glad I haven’t had the time for FFXIV the last few months, the servers have taken quite the beating.
@uptownsoul it cost my sanity trying to make an account and log in
@uptownsoul Its completely free up to level 40 or so as you said.. however if you tried the beta from years ago you'll be locked out of it as I am. Which is really annoying as the original version of the game is completely different to how it is now so i'll never get the chance to really play it.
Further to that, its a monthly subscription which is around 8 quid a month I believe.
Always facied trying this game out. Dont you need to pay an additional fee like WOW on PC etc? It does look pretty good tho.
@uptownsoul @Kidfunkadelic83
there's so much content that's free, more than most games you pay for, that by the time you finish it you will have long made your mind up whether or not you want to subscribe.
@solocapers This ridiculous lockout is why I'll never play it. And to add salt to the wound I didn't even get to play it when I tried downloading the beta in the first place, as my internet was too crap at the time. Oh well.
@Integrity thats awsome. Just got to wait for it to become available again now 😂😂
Can’t recommend this highly enough. Best game in the series.
This is certainly the first time I have ever heard of a game being removed from sale because.....it's just too popular..... wow.
I wish so much I could get into the game, but I just....I couldn't even make it past the "tutorial" chapter in the green foresty area with that town in the forest....something just didn't click, like, at all...
@uptownsoul there's loads of solo stuff. You'll only have to be in parties for dungeons and trials which you'll have do from time to time.
@uptownsoul
What can you do on the Free Trial in FFXIV?
https://www.icy-veins.com/ffxiv/free-trial-in-ffxiv
All info u need
Ques have settled down lately, coincidentally right after i came back after a 4 month break
Just wish I could unlink my old account. It’s locked to an email address I haven’t owned in years. Square wanted me to email them photos of my drivers license and passport to unlink it! No way! Just give us the option to unlink and resign in FFS.
@solocapers @Broosh I was locked out from being able to try out the latest trial too as I had the beta test version back in the PS3 days. Didn't even get to try it at all. But I did click on the game, just didn't play anything. Clicking the game started the timer so it counted up as the 10 hours/days of playtime even though I played nothing.
Tried to get onto the most recent trial on PS4 but nothing worked as my Square Enix ID was tied to my PSN since that PS3 beta test which locked me out.
Square Enix removed my Square Enix ID from my PSN (1 time only thing so be careful when you add a new one). But I still wouldn't be able to play the new trial as i owned the starter edition of the game (Can't remember why I bought it, must have assumed the 30 days was the only way to get the trial again).
Contacted Sony about the trial and they told me i can't play as I bought the starter game. They refused to remove it because it was purchased. So that purhcase of that starter edition has me locked out of the trial completely even if i connected a new SQ ID.
But since my Square Enix ID has been removed, I started up a new trial on the Mac. If I ever decide to pay for the game, I'm hoping to connect that Square Enix ID to that PSN which no longer has a SQ ID tied to it and then continue on.
Maybe try get them to remove your SQ ID too. And if you haven't purchased the game on PSN, you might be safe to get the new trial or you could do what I'm doing and play it on another platform for now and then carry it over later if you want to start paying. I hope it will work.
If that doesn't work for you and you're happy enough not to use your main PSN, you can set up a new PSN account to play on.
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