The enormously popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV will return to storefronts this month, after being temporarily pulled from sale as the game’s servers have struggled to meet demand.
The game has been plagued with long login queues following the release of the game’s latest expansion, Endwalker – with queues sometimes taking several hours. Efforts to add additional servers were frustrated by the global semiconductor shortage.
To address the issue, Square Enix will be opening its new Oceanian data centre two weeks ahead of schedule, on January 25th.
The original plan was to add three worlds and introduce two more later down the line. However, due to the high number of players, the company will be introducing all five new worlds from day one.
In order to incentivise players to move to these new worlds, Square Enix will be waiving the transfer fee for transferring to a new world. Additionally, the Home World Transfer Service, which has been offline due to the excessive demand, will resume operations on Wednesday, January 26th.
“Once again, I wish to apologize for the delays to server expansion caused by the global semiconductor shortage,” said the game’s producer & director Naoki Yoshida “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.
“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.”
