Square Enix's second Final Fantasy MMO is now its most profitable game in the series. With the latest surge in popularity, Final Fantasy 14 surpassed the 24 million player mark, and the game's director and producer Naoki Yoshida sees a bright future ahead.
As reported by IGN, Yoshida, speaking to press and content creators during Final Fantasy 14's media tour, said Square Enix will "spare no expense" in securing the future of the MMO. The director repeated Final Fantasy 14's rags to riches story following its original, catastrophic launch over a decade ago.
In the lead-up to Final Fantasy 14's Endwalker expansion, Yoshida revealed how Eorzea's population swelled to 24 million. Back in 2015 during Heavensward, the MMO hosted 4 million registered players. Two years later, that number hit 10 million in Stormblood.
While the popularity is great for the future of your journey as the Warrior of Light, it hasn't been without its own set of problems. Yoshida has been transparent throughout 2021 about the problems Final Fantasy 14 faces due to server congestion. The predicament the game finds itself in becomes particularly challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hardware shortages continue to strain Square's ability to remedy the situation. Though it did later re-open, Final Fantasy 14's most popular North American data center, Aether, closed for a while earlier this year to new players.
Despite the growing pains, Endwalker continues to build on fan excitement. TheGamer's very own features editor Jade King had the chance to play Endwalker ahead of its release, and said, "it’s approaching what could be its finest hour yet." King also spoke to Yoshida, where he was once again candid about some of the MMO's struggles, his personal challenges, and hopes for the future.
Final Fantasy 14's Endwalker expansion launches on November 23 as version 6.0, but you can join in early on November 19 if you pre-order the game. This expansion will introduce the hunky male Viera, additional DPS and healing jobs, major story beats, and hours of other new content in what is said to be Final Fantasy 14's biggest content drop yet.