Square Enix is freezing newcomers to help out the old-timers
The Final Fantasy XIVĀ expansionĀ EndwalkerĀ is out for everyone, and servers have been understandably stressed. But while waiting for queues isn’t strange for an MMO launch, Square Enix is making some extra strides to deal with congestion.Ā Final Fantasy XIVĀ sales will be temporarily frozen, meaning new players will have to wait a bit to hop into Eorzea.
In a new statement,Ā Final Fantasy XIVĀ director and producer Naoki Yoshida notes that players are experiencing extremely long wait times due to a “dense concentration of play hours” that far exceeds server capacity, especially during peak times.
To help out, Yoshida confirms that Square Enix will be temporarily halting the sales of theĀ Final Fantasy XIVĀ Starter Edition and Complete Edition. And while players with active subscriptions (as opposed to the Free Trial) have been prioritized in queues already, Square will also be suspending new Free Trial registrations. The team will also be suspending all new advertisements.
Yoshida also mentions the infamous “Error 2002” that’s been causing log-in queue woes. He says the team has identified the cause of the problem and a fix will roll out with Patch 6.01, which is currently scheduled for Dec. 21. Otherwise, Yoshida says that Patch 6.05, which includes the release of PandƦmonium: Asphodelos (Savage), will be going ahead as scheduled for Jan. 4, 2022.
On a larger scale, Yoshida says Square Enix is considering adding servers to each region, and will be looking at whether this will be a gradual addition or one big push. The plan in general, according to Yoshida, is to introduce a “large number of additions,” and the team hopes to provide a roadmap by the end of Jan. 2022.
Throughout the statement, Yoshida apologizes to players who are waiting in long queues to actually get intoĀ Endwalker. And by the accounts we’ve seen so far, it sounds like EndwalkerĀ is delivering for eagerĀ Final Fantasy XIVĀ players.
This isn’t even the first timeĀ Final Fantasy XIVĀ has had to temporarily halt sales of the game. It’s a little bit of the ‘suffering from success’ joke come to life, but it’s also a marker of just how massiveĀ Final Fantasy XIVĀ has become in the years sinceĀ A Realm Reborn. Does this ironically make me want to play even more? Yes it does. But it’s a pretty interesting move to halt new sales to prioritize players who are active and playing now.
Published: Dec 16, 2021 04:30 pm