The Final Fantasy 14 community is certainly a dedicated lot. When you consider how many people the game has touched and what it means to them, it's easy to see why the community is so loyal and unwavering. In an effort to express their gratitude to director Yoshi-P and the rest of the game's developers, over 1,000 Final Fantasy 14 players have gotten together and performed Endwalker theme song Close in the Distance, featuring special guests from across the community. Be aware that the video contains Endwalker spoilers.First shared by YouTuber Alex Moukala on Twitter, the video features several other YouTubers and prominent Final Fantasy 14 community members, including Susan Calloway, Studio Nicktendo, Amanda Achen, Husky by the Geek, Enochian Tori, Paolo Andrea di Pietro, Elizabeth Rage, Lollia Rose, Familyjules, Adriana Figueroa, J'Nique Nicole, and Zepla. Several of these individuals have even performed songs for other Final Fantasy games and Square Enix titles such as Nier Automata.These influencers sing most of the song, but the video pans out to reveal hundreds of ordinary Final Fantasy 14 community members singing their hearts out for the final verse. According to the start of the video, 1,400 community members in total have contributed their voices to a song that will give you chills even if you're not a fan of the game itself.
After the song finishes, the video closes out with a lovely message which explains the song is "dedicated to Final Fantasy 14's developers, voice actors, artists, musicians, staff, and social media managers" as well as the Final Fantasy 14 community and "everyone who contributed to making Ethierys the wonderful place it is."
After all the negative and hostile fan reactions over Return to Monkey Island's new art style, it's refreshing to see a community truly thank developers for their hard work.