Final Fantasy XIV Will Go Into Hibernation This November

When it launched almost two years ago, Final Fantasy XIV was met with a great deal of negativity both initial subscribers and the gaming press. Plagued with bugs and a myriad of bizarre albeit damaging design choices, Square Enix immediately got to work on a shopping list of fixes whilst making the MMO temporarily free-to-play.

Needless to say it was a damaging experience for both Square and the previously infallible Final Fantasy, especially when you compare XIV to the huge multi-platform success of 2002’s Final Fantasy XI. Admirably, Square Enix isn’t letting go of its second MMO project, looking to relaunch the entire game later this year for PC before making the leap to PlayStation 3 in 2013.

To make way for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (or Version 2.0, if you like) Square will be closing down the game servers in a couple of months time. As of September 29th, the publisher will no longer take subscription payments until the game is back up and running later this year. Those who have a rolling subscription or plan to sign-up before the deadline will be able to continue playing up until November 11th. After this time all servers will shut down and player progress will not be saved.

We’ve yet to hear of an official relaunch date for Final Fantasy XIV, though the game’s producer is billed to address fans on the 11th and will hopefully be able to give a clearer insight.

Source: The Lodestone

10 Comments

  1. If they do a good enough job and finally get that PS3 version sorted I may actually consider buying it this time.

    • I wouldn’t bet on it. The first one was so cripplingly bad I just think they cant make a decent MMO.

  2. FF XI was awesome. Every time I left my Mog house I felt like I was going on an adventure into the unkown. Many happy hours.

    Unfortunatley, XIV was as bad as XI was good. So bad that I wonder if the team involved realised they had actually made an MMO previously. They seemed to make every mistake thay had already made all over again. I was disapoint.

    I’ll keep an eye on it. But as Burgess says, I wouldn’t gamble…

  3. I actually tried playing this again recently, after being massively disappointed by it during the beta and even more so at release.

    With every patch they’ve released recently, the moon has been getting redder and closer. There’s also these ships constantly flying over head and “Atomos” (the world eater) has just started randomly appearing around the world. Oh, the first time I slept after I started playing again, my character had a nightmare about the end of the world.

    I know it had a terrible start, but right now, I’d say that it’s easily one of the most cinematic MMOs I’ve ever played.

  4. I also went back to this about 3 months ago after the epic dissapoinemt of release… and I’ve got to say I love it now. SE have really changed this game around, amd I’m very excited for the 2.0 release. A little apprehensive.. but considering the changes implememted sofar, I think we’re in for a good game.

  5. From what I’ve read they’ve over hauled pretty much everything in RR (Realm Reborn).
    This includes the graphics engine (now based upon the same engine as Agni’s Philosophy – remember that shiny tech demo at E3?).
    Combat has been changed as well as interface, quests and so on.

    The following is a video presentation that I think was at their anniversary event or something, now translated (after the initial video) and really looks like something I want to return to.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_737hYbSCEs&feature=youtu.be

  6. They really stepped up their game for ARR and I hope people give them a second chance. They listened closely to what the community was saying and turned Eorzea into a world full of cinematic adventures. I can’t wait for ARR.

  7. I still have this on pre-order for £7

    • Me too, I have a feeling I’ll get a cancellation email as soon as the release date is revealed :-(

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