The more popular an MMORPG is, the more problems it does have at launch or when an expansion is released. The huge increase in Final Fantasy XIV's popularity in recent times became especially significant this summer when several streamers decided to abandon World of Warcraft and move to Square Enix's MMORPG. Final Fantasy XIV surpassed WoW in the list of most played games in the genre, with millions of players eagerly waiting for the release of its next expansion, Endwalker.
The release of the Endwalker expansion for Final Fantasy XIV is scheduled for tomorrow, but there are quite a few players that have had access to the game for a few days already in early access. Square Enix was ready for the sudden increase in demand, and they prepared ahead of the release. We know it from a post on the official blog of the game that explained that the measures they could take were limited due to the current shortage of semiconductors that prevented them from adding additional servers before the Endwalker launch. As a result, they focused on improving the ones they were using. Also, preceding the launch, they gave preference to players who own the full version of Final Fantasy XIV in the login queues.
None of those measures have been enough to remove the problems altogether, and the launch of Endwalker early access has gathered a high number of players that have been suffering from quite long queue times to connect to the servers and play the game.
There is nothing really surprising here, as this kind of problem is a common occurrence, but Final Fantasy XIV players that are currently paying a subscription to the game will get additional playing time as compensation for their troubles. According to Naoki Yoshida, Producer & Director of FINAL FANTASY XIV:
Considering that we are asking players to wait in queues for extremely long periods of time and the ongoing situation making it difficult to play normally, we have decided that during the official release of Endwalker on December 7, we will be granting 7 days of free game time to all players who own the full version of the game and have an active subscription. This also includes players who are currently playing on the 30-day free play period included when registering the full version of the game and those with multiple accounts.
Although this measure will not fix the connection problems that Final Fantasy XIV players will continue to suffer for a bit longer, it shows that the developer cares about it. Players will need patience, as things will stabilize after a while, as usually happens in cases like this. Meanwhile, if you are yet to discover FInal Fantasy XIV and its Endwalker expansion, you can visit our comparator to find them at the best price.
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