Initially intended to come out in November, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, the Square Enix MMORPG’s greatest development to date, will rather show up on December 7. That is because chief Naoki Yoshida and the remainder of the development crew need to dispatch the new content without compromising the game.
Over the past decade, Square Enix’s MMORPG is by far the most lucrative Final Videogame in the series’ history, despite its rocky debut. Many new players (as well as returning ones) have flocked to the game over the past year owing to the imminent release of its next installment.
The deferral was confirmed by a recent blog post by Square Enix and the title’s latest stream with director and producer Naoki Yoshida. Per the announcement, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker’s launch date has been pushed back two weeks. The new release date for the expansion is now slated for December 7.
He also apologized to fans and took responsibility; Yoshida explained that the cause of this delay was to give Square Enix ample time to make sure that FFXIV Endwalker is stable and free of any bugs. Yoshida stated since the project team spent so much time making sure the expansion’s plot was perfect, they had to cut into the time allotted for last quality checks.
“At this rate, there was a bigger risk of us reaching the release date without ensuring “stability” as one form of quality, and for that reason, I have decided to postpone the release at this time. As we also anticipate large amounts of congestion across all game Worlds, I felt that even in this respect it wouldn’t be right for us to release the expansion while lacking adequate ‘stability.’ I am truly sorry.”
Yoshida also unveiled the latest Viera hairstyles, tweaks to resource collecting and crafting, and an improved spearfishing mini-game. Now fishes can be harpooned without the need for precise timing. Plus he also hinted at more role quests that are scheduled to release somewhere in the future.
The shift in launch date also hints at a change in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker’s early access dates for those who have already pre-ordered it. As of writing, early access to the upcoming installment is due on December 3, 2021. The gaming mogul has also revealed the launch date of Endwalker’s two consecutive post-release updates.
Updates 6.01 and 6.05 will be issued on December 21 and January 4, respectively, in the subsequent years. According to the sources, the 6.01 update will feature Endwalker’s debut raid Pandaemonium, whereas Patch 6.05 will deliver raid’s Savage difficulty and new Allagan Tomestones along with the matching gears that’ll be available to purchase.
The original launch of FFXIV in 2010 was a dismal failure, then Square Enix released’ A Realm Reborn’ three years after the original release of the game. Three significant expansions and a slew of patches later, the title has become Square Enix’s most popular Final Fantasy yet. For the past decade, Endwalker has been the pinnacle of all that hard work. So, I think fans can wait a little longer.