Square Enix suspends sales of FFXIV and halts free trials

In perhaps the most dramatic move to combat queues possible Square Enix has suspended sales of Final Fantasy XIV and halted the game’s free trial. Final Fantasy XIV has seen unprecedented success in 2021, culminating with the release of Endwalker in December. However, success can have its pitfalls, as Square Enix has found, with the game mired in huge queues and blighted by server issues.  

In a post on the official Final Fantasy XIV blog on Dec. 16, game producer and director Naoki Yoshida outlined the suspension of sales and the pausing of the free trial. He outlined that the game’s play hours far exceeded the game’s server capacity, especially during peak times. 

This has forced the company to suspend the sale and delivery of Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition and Complete Edition, the two primary digital editions of the game. 

Additionally, free trial players will only be able to log outside of peak hours. New registrations for free trials have been suspended as well. The only game purchases that will now be able to be purchased right now are digital upgrades for existing players. Square Enix has also halted new advertisements for the game outside of sales.

All these efforts have been made to attempt to ease the burden on the game’s packed servers. As Final Fantasy XIV has hit an estimated 2.7 million active users over the past month, queues have halted the game, with some players reporting multiple-hour queues. In peak times, the game is often impossible to join, and to make things worse, errors and connection issues have frequently thrown players out of queues.

Related: What causes error 2002 in Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker?

Since the middle of the year, Square Enix has attempted to update and expand its server capacity, as detailed in blog posts. But ultimately, due to the global semiconductor shortage, difficulties relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the high specifications of the servers.

Yoshida addressed all these issues and more in the post and outlined the upcoming patch schedule. He also apologies to players and Square Enix’s retail partners for the drastic decision. There’s perhaps never been a more dramatic action taken in gaming than to halt sales to try and solve server issues.

For more Final Fantasy XIV information, check out Why can’t I buy Final Fantasy XIV? on Pro Game Guides.