Square Enix has a busy week ahead as they prepare to launch FFXIV Endwalker into early access before the full server launch later in December.
The good news is that Final Fantasy fans have already been informed about the upcoming server maintenance and how long the game will be offline.
The bad news is that Square Enix is also predicting trouble ahead for returning Final Fantasy XIV gamers, so things could run less smoothly than expected.
And that’s not just during the server maintenance and lengthy downtime being planned, but also during FFXIV Endwalker early access and the full release date.
It means that there could be a busy and frustrating week ahead for those hoping to delve into the exciting new content planned for the hugely popular MMO.
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As you might expect, many of these problems will be down to lots of gamers trying to jump back into the game at around the same time.
Such a jump in traffic is likely to cause congestion, with Square Enix warning this week: “Since the launch of a new expansion is when a large number of players will be playing for extended periods of time, we are expecting far more simultaneous logins compared to usual.
“Furthermore, following a dramatic increase in the player base in all regions since this summer, we are currently experiencing record numbers of active users, and therefore are expecting a number of logins that is yet to be seen since the launch of FFXIV.
“In preparation for these predictions, we optimized our servers ahead of the expansion’s launch in order to increase login caps.
“On the other hand, due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductors we have previously mentioned, we were unable to add new Worlds before the release of Endwalker. The addition of new Worlds will still be considered as we procure the necessary server machines.
“As such, there is a high likelihood of congestion that will result in Worlds reaching maximum login capacity and lengthy wait times when logging in. We would like to apologize for making this sort of announcement at a time when many of you are looking forward to the expansion, as well as for inconveniences that may be caused by congestion.”
The lack of New Worlds is a huge blow for those hoping to jump in without major issues being a possibility, but gamers are pretty well-versed when it comes to server instability during big launches.
Square Enix has also released a plan for how long servers will be down and when to expect Endwalker access to begin.
FFXIV ENDWALKER EARLY ACCESS START TIME
The FFXIV Endwalker early access release date has been set for 9am GMT on Friday, December 3, 2021.
As noted above, lengthy maintenance is also expected to last 24-hours before the early access period begins.
The Final Fantasy 14 server downtime is scheduled to start at 9am GMT on December 2 and end with the launch of Endwalker early access on December 3.
During this time, Final Fantasy 14 will not be playable and different parts of the game and additional websites will drop during maintenance.
This includes services tied to Mog Station and the game Companion App, so there will be a lengthy blackout concerning most of the game this week.
For gamers in North America, early access for Endwalker starts at 1am PDT on December 3, the same date as in Europe.