KEY POINTS

  • "FFXIV" players who have an active subscription will receive seven days' worth of free game time
  • Free game time will be added to all eligible players once "Endwalker" is released
  • "Endwalker" will go live Tuesday

In light of moderate to severe server congestion issues, Square Enix will be giving “Final Fantasy XIV” players an entire week’s worth of free game time as compensation for the problem that’s raging across most of the game’s servers.

Upon the release of “Endwalker,” all players who own the full version of “Final Fantasy XIV” that have an active subscription are eligible to receive the free seven-day game time extension, according to an official announcement.

This includes those who are currently going through the base game’s 30-day free play subscription. Users with multiple accounts will also be able to get free game time so long as they meet the mentioned requirements.

Additionally, more free game time may be handed out again in the future depending on the condition of the servers once the “Endwalker” expansion is released. Square Enix will issue an announcement regarding all possible free game time extensions should servers remain congested in the following weeks.

The Diamond Weapon, a boss featured in Final Fantasy 14 Shadowbringers
The Diamond Weapon, a boss featured in Final Fantasy 14 Shadowbringers. Square Enix

“Final Fantasy XIV’s” servers were flooded with a large influx of players over the past few months. The sudden surge of newcomers eventually led to overcrowded servers, which created long log-in queues and network-related issues that have made the MMO experience not so great for many players.

The severe congestion is currently affecting all in-game Worlds across every region, “FFXIV” producer Naoki Yoshida said. He mentioned that their hardware is unable to keep up with the sheer number of simultaneous log-ins, leading to the painfully slow queue times that players around the world have been experiencing.

Yoshida also advised players to take peak congestion hours into consideration before logging in. According to Square Enix’s data, the peak hours for each of the major data servers as of Sunday are as follows:

  • North America: 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. (PST) / 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. (GMT)
  • Europe: 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. (PST) / 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (GMT)
  • Japan: 1 a.m. to 7 am (PST) / 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (GMT)

The “FFXIV” team is currently working toward a solution to provide a better gaming experience for all subscribers, and more details will be shared once progress has been made.

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