Producer Naoki Yoshida is promising the Final Fantasy XIV community that the upcoming Dawntrail launch will go off without a hitch. Many players remember the botched launch of Endwalker in 2021, marked by multi-hour queues and frustration.
During the previous expansion’s release, over 5,000 people attempted to access a server at a time. These servers had a capacity of only 1,500, making each attempt to log into the game an instant headache. On top of that, players were instantly kicked from the game after 30 minutes of inactivity to make room. Much of this was due to a semiconductor shortage leading to a lack of infrastructure. Luckily, that’s no longer an issue.
In a chat with PC Gamer, Yoshida tried to quell gamer’s fears. “I consulted with the president of Square Enix and I asked him if we could buy servers,” he said. “These past few years we have acquired a large number of servers for that purpose: In Europe, we have four servers. In North America, eight, and in Japan we have four. So if we do find there is a large congestion, then we can make those servers available at the press of a button.
We have finished all of the preparation of those, the maintenance on those servers. And Final Fantasy XIV is installed on the servers as well. So the only thing that is left is for me to give the go sign and then those servers will become available.”
The Dawntrail expansion for Final Fantasy XIV will be released on July 2, but players preordering the expansion will be able to play a few days early on June 28. The long-awaited release 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.
