Rank 3 – Final Fantasy XIV
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: Square Enix | Platform: PC, PS, Xbox | Release Date: August 27, 2013 | Model: Pay2Play | Rating on Steam: 86 % Positive
What kind of game is this? Final Fantasy XIV is one of the most popular MMORPGs here in the West. It started weak in 2011 and only fought its way into the hearts of players through the major overhaul “A Realm Reborn” in 2013.
Through regular content updates and expansions such as the latest Dawntrail, the MMORPG currently offers a lot of content, especially for new players. They can play up to level 70 and the content of the second expansion Stormblood due to a revision of the free-to-play experience.
The MMORPG resembles classic Japanese RPGs, largely due to its strong focus on storytelling. In the endgame, you can expect many challenging raids and quests. However, you will need to get used to the combat system, which particularly feels slow and clumsy at first.
What content does it offer? Final Fantasy XIV offers everything an MMORPG heart desires:
- A huge game world
- A strong focus on the story
- A deep crafting system
- Challenges in the form of dungeons and raids
With the Dawntrail expansion, the MMORPG was expanded in the summer of 2024 with two new jobs, a fresh continent, endgame challenges, and much story.
What do the reviews on Steam say? Overall, Final Fantasy XIV has 76,698 ratings, of which 86 percent are positive. The 323 reviews submitted in the last 30 days are 82 percent positive. It is time for Square Enix to introduce the new expansion.
How many players does it have on Steam? In the past 30 days, there have been an average of 16,725 players online. The peak during this time was 27,715 concurrent players. The all-time high is 95,102 concurrent players. Since FFXIV has its own launcher and you can also play the MMORPG on consoles, the total number of active players is higher.
For whom is the MMORPG worthwhile? FFXIV is aimed mainly at fans of Final Fantasy and players who enjoy visiting dungeons and raids or have a strong story focus.
A total of around 40 million players are said to have visited Eorzea so far – but due to the free content available, these are not only buyers and subscribers.
Despite the slow start and criticism of Dawntrail, the MMORPG is one of the best in the genre, and due to changes to the free-to-play model, every MMO fan should at least try it once. The recent patches have also been received a bit better by players: After 8 hard months, Final Fantasy XIV is finally recovering on Steam, but it’s still too early to celebrate.
