Final Fantasy XIV Servers Struggle as Dawntrail Preorders Open

Final Fantasy XIV has been the MMO to beat for the past decade. Upon the release of the Endwalker expansion in December 2021, servers were instantly overloaded leaving aspiring Warriors of Light out in the cold until a fix was found. For a period of time, sales of the game were suspended simply because there wasn’t enough room, and those who were able to log in often waited in queues lasting for hours.

During PAX East this weekend, producer Yoshi-P finally announced the release date for the upcoming Dawntrail expansion: July 2, 2024. Although the team is likely desperate to prevent the chaos that accompanied Endwalker, things are already looking rough months before release.

Preordering Dawntrail nets players some nifty bonus codes, including a pair of earrings that boost XP and a Final Fantasy IX minion. At the moment, getting these codes is taking quite a while.

“Rest assured, codes are being delivered sequentially, but the email may take up to several hours to arrive due to the high volume of orders,” a post on the official Final Fantasy XIV X account reads.

Those who preorder Dawntrail will be able to play the game early starting June 28. The fifth expansion will bring with it a level cap boost from 90 to 100, a new playable race, two new DPS classes, new cities, new dungeons and raids, a new limited job, and an entirely new story arc. It will also see its first graphical update since A Realm Reborn was released in 2013.

Final Fantasy XIV is available on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. The MMO was fully released on Xbox Series X/S on March 21.