A game may stop selling. The fact that the reason given is that a game is too successful is rather unusual, but with Final Fantasy XIV it is a fact.
Square Enix Producer Producer Naoki Yoshida actually quit in one Blogpost announce that Final Fantasy XIV’s physical and digital sales will be halted in the next few days. The publisher is working with the dealers to take the game out of the program until further notice. Even advertising for the game will be stopped until further notice.
The reason is as simple as it is bizarre: The online game is currently so successful that there are endless waiting times when logging in and the server capacities are completely at the limit. In addition, players of the free trial version can only log in at certain times and new registrations are not possible until further notice. To compensate for the problems, the players receive 21 days of free playing time – the seven days promised last week have been increased again.
The cause of the current server problems is the release of the new expansion Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker on December 7th, which is apparently so well received by the fans that the servers are literally overrun. A sharp increase was already noticed in the early access phase for pre-orderers. Square Enix is trying to increase capacities, but due to the known delivery problems in the semiconductor area, this is not possible to the planned extent – the server equipment simply cannot be procured in sufficient quantities to equip a new data center.
Despite the postponement to December, there is already the launch trailer for Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker for you.
