Turns out it isn’t just console manufacturers and cryptocurrency miners running into problems thanks to the backed-up semiconductor production line. The matter is impacting games as well, especially a certain newly-launched online game facing more user traffic than ever before.
Warriors of Light around the world are enjoying Endwalker, the latest expansion (and current storyline finale) in Final Fantasy XIV. That is, if they can get into the game. While Final Fantasy XIV itself is functioning without issue, an unprecedented server load is causing enormous queue times and related errors making waiting even worse.
Game director Naoki Yoshida already addressed the issues and upcoming compensation plans earlier this week, but today more context and plan information was provided. One of the more interesting and detailed parts of today’s official post notes that while the team is doing all it can, some parts of the server problems are out of their hands.
As Yoshida explains, while some of the planned server issues are being addressed on a hardware level, the plan to add more Worlds (servers) to Final Fantasy XIV simply can’t come into play yet. He describes the hardware needed to store and run each individual “world,” powerful computer setups that, much like other tech, require parts the semiconductor shortage is directly in the way of.
Obviously, fans waiting to see the new sights and sounds of Endwalker are gonna have to wait for a totally smooth experience, and will need to do things like log in before peak times for easier entry. Otherwise, while the Final Fantasy XIV team is doing what it can with the available resources (also detailed in these official news posts), only so much can happen before the new server hardware is available.
