Final Fantasy XIV Sales to Resume on January 25 as Data Centers Get Added and Expanded

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Image: Square Enix

Fans who’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of the latest installment will not have to wait much longer. Following an overly successful launch that resulted in hours-long queues for players that caused Square Enix to pause sales, it has been announced that Final Fantasy XIV sales will resume on January 25. Naoki Yoshida (FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer & Director) shared, “While certain Worlds continue to experience congestion during peak times, our plan to fundamentally address the problem is beginning to take shape, and I’d like to share the roadmap with you.”

Data Centers

From North America to Europe and Japan, Square Enix has been working on expanding its data centers to meet increased demand. The new Oceania data center will also be going online on January 25. It will add five new worlds in order to accommodate more players. He asks for players’ patience as the company works to ensure a smooth rollout of the new servers. A multi-phase strategy will be used for other data centers around the world to increase server capacities.

  • Japan: The number of logical data centers will increase from three to four, which will increase overall possible simulations by 50,000 or more. It will involve a reconfiguration from a three-logical-DC configuration of 10:11:11 to a four-logical-DC configuration of 8:8:8:8. It is planned to be completed by July 22.
  • North America: A two phase plan that will take approximately one year to complete due to the global semiconductor shortage. One new logical data center is planned to be added by August 2022 that will bring four new worlds. A similar reconfiguration to Japan is planned that will add another four worlds, but it is not expected to be ready until summer 2023. There could potentially be other larger scale projects in the works as the launch of the next expansion nears.
  • Europe: Due to the aforementioned seminconductor shortage, a two-phase plan is also planned for Europe similar to the one for North America. Two more worlds will be added on July 2022, with another eight to arrive by summer 2023. Another data center is in the works but currently is in early stages of development.

Other Changes

Aside from expanding, reconfiguring, and adding data centers, the publisher is also making changes to how players can interact across different regions.

• Players will be able to visit Worlds in other logical data centers within the same physical data center.

• Players will not be able to visit Worlds in other regions/physical data centers.

• Though cross-region travel is technically possible, implementation is still under consideration.

• Travel is initiated not while logged into the game, but from the character selection screen.

On January 26, the day after the Oceania data center goes live, the Home World Transfer Service will recommence. He goes on to add that “upon resumption, the Home World Transfer Service will be available to all players in all data centers, not only to those transferring to the Oceanian Data Center.”

The announcement ends with an apology for the inconveniences brought on by the needed changes but also adds that “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.”

Once again, I wish to apologize for the delays to server expansion caused by the global semiconductor shortage. 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.

Source: Square Enix (via Engadget)

Peter Brosdahl
As a child of the 70’s I was part of the many who became enthralled by the video arcade invasion of the 1980’s. Saving money from various odd jobs I purchased my first computer from a friend of my dad, a used Atari 400, around 1982. Eventually it would end up being a lifelong passion of upgrading and modifying equipment that, of course, led into a career in IT support.

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