How did Final Fantasy XIV perform in 2022 and what can players expect from 2023 onward? Here is an overview of the events and expectations.
How did FFXIV fare last year? The year 2022 started for FFXIV with the completely absurd situation that the MMORPG had to take its free trial version offline and suspend all sales.
The reason for this was the total overload of the game servers, which led to long queues for many weeks. A wave of new players dating back to 2021, caused by the migration of major WoW streamers, flooded the game. The sale of FFXIV was subsequently suspended for almost 2 months.
To avoid such server problems in the future, the developers introduced fresh servers and even data centers in all regions throughout 2022. A new region in Oceania was also opened.
On the gameplay level, FFXIV continued its usual 4-month release rhythm and brought 2 new patches by the end of 2022, with the next update numbered 6.3 already right around the corner.
The financial reports say: Despite the server problems, FFXIV had another financially successful year. In the financial report to investors, the MMORPG recorded a significant growth surge. In a year filled with flops at Square Enix, the MMORPG single-handedly salvaged the revenues of the Digital Entertainment sector from falling.
The second half of 2022 also looked good for the MMORPG. Although the growth curve was significantly lower, as no new add-on was released during this period, the numbers still went up.
In fact, Square Enix’s MMO sector in Q3 of fiscal year 2023 was the only area of Digital Entertainment that did not report losses. According to the financial report, the reason for this is the steadily increasing number of FFXIV subscriptions.
The in-person Fan Festivals return
What the near future brings: Right at the start of 2023, FFXIV fans can look forward to Update 6.3. It will be released on January 10 and, as usual, brings a wealth of content:
- Continuation of the main story, with a new story dungeon and a boss fight in normal and extreme
- New upgrades for the Manderville weapons
- Second part of the 24-man raid “Myths of Eorzea” with 4 bosses, new armor sets, and upgrade materials
- Tribal quests of the Loporrits for crafters
- New Ultimate raid “Omega” for the hardcore community. It will be released 2 weeks after the launch of 6.3, on January 24
- After the break in Shadowbringers, the deep dungeon returns in the form of Eureka Orthos, a randomly generated dungeon with many floors.
- Balance adjustments for jobs in PvP and PvE and much more.
The update will be released in several stages, with the bulk arriving on January 10 and the rest gradually in the following months.
What does the distant future bring: Starting in the second half of 2023, the major Fan Festivals of FFXIV will resume, taking place physically once again after interruptions due to COVID. Fans in the USA, Europe, and Japan will be able to gather and celebrate their favorite MMORPG.
As usual, during the Fan Festivals, the next expansion 7.0 for FFXIV will be announced, with new information being released continuously.
Where the expansion will take players is still unknown. All information regarding this will be kept under wraps until the Fan Fest. However, there are numerous speculations about which part of the 14 worlds will be traveled next. Possible candidates include:
- The 13th shard, also known as the nothingness, consumed by darkness. The journey there is already possible, so there’s nothing stopping it from becoming its own world, like Norvrandt.
- Meracydia, the land where Bahamut and Tiamat once ruled. The story of the patches post-Endwalker will again heavily revolve around dragons and the consequences of Meracydia’s conquest by Allag.
- The New World in the far west. Players speculate about where Azdaja, the sister of Vrtra, had her dragon lair. One of the possible locations mentioned is the New World, where Blue Magic also originated.
When will the new expansion arrive? Fans shouldn’t expect the new expansion before spring 2024. The latest information will be revealed at the Fan Festival in Japan, which will take place at the earliest in 2024. Thus, the MMORPG will have to go over 2 years without a new expansion.
A similarly long time elapsed between the last two expansions, as the COVID pandemic caused delays and shifts worldwide. Until then, expansions were released at a very regular pace of 2 years:
- Shadowbringers went live on July 2, 2019
- Endwalker was delayed by about half a year and released on December 2, 2021.
However, at that time the pandemic took the developers by surprise. No one had expected the long lockdowns, and many studios had to scramble to get their employees into home office work. This was also the case at Square Enix.
Meanwhile, the workday has normalized again, and the FFXIV developers were able to return to their usual working rhythm. The director of the MMORPG, Naoki Yoshida, mentioned in a producer stream that regular updates will now come approximately every 4 months.
It is therefore unlikely that there will be such drought periods again as during the COVID pandemic.
If you are considering starting with FFXIV in 2023, we have a detailed overview of the classes for you:
