What you need to know
- Final Fantasy XIV's newest expansion, Endwalker, recently launched on PlayStation and PC.
- The game has been suffering from server issues due to limited server hardware and an influx of new players.
- Square Enix is suspending new sales of the game in response to these server issues.
- Additionally, Square Enix is extending the free game time of existing players by an additional 14 days.
Final Fantasy XIV sales are being suspended, due to ongoing server and queue issues following the launch of the Endwalker expansion, Square Enix announced on Thursday. While existing players are not affected, no newcomers can buy Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition or Complete Edition for the time being. Upgrade packs such as the expansion packs and collector's edition upgrade are not being removed from sale, so existing players can purchase new content.
Square Enix is pulling new advertisements for the game and copies from retail stores, though Square Enix notes this will be a "gradual" process. For players encountering Error 2002, Square Enix investigated and found the cause to be a login bug dating all the way back to Final Fantasy XIV version 1.0. It'll be fixed in an upcoming patch for the game client that's scheduled to launch on Dec. 21, 2021.
Square Enix is also extending the free time being offered to existing players by an additional 14 days, for a total of 21 free days for anyone that owns the full game and has an active subscription as of Dec. 21, 2021. Final Fantasy XIV grew massively to over 24 million players in the months leading up to the launch of Endwalker. As such, it's become one of the most popular multiplayer games in the world.
Square Enix has been working to set up additional servers to increase capacity for the new players however, ongoing challenges caused the pandemic have limited the available hardware. Square Enix notes the team is hoping to provide a roadmap at some point in Jan. 2022. Patch 6.05 is currently scheduled to launch on Jan. 4, 2022 as originally planned. This patch is adding a new dungeon, recipes and more to the game.
