Final Fantasy XIV, the popular MMO about trying to find an apartment in San Francisco, is flying off shelves — digitally. Right now, when you pop onto the Square Enix store, you’ll likely run into a roadblock trying to buy a download code for the game.
Overnight, players on Reddit and the gaming forum ResetEra noticed that Final Fantasy XIV Complete Edition — a bundle that includes the base game alongside its expansions — wasn’t purchasable on the proprietary store of its publisher. Indeed, right now, you can’t buy a PC or PlayStation 4 download code for the game on Square Enix’s site; trying to do so lists a “waiting list” button in place of the typical “add to cart” option. (You can currently buy Final Fantasy XIV Complete Edition without issue for Mac. You can also add it to your cart on Steam and the PlayStation Store.)
It’s odd, right? You’d think that a game would only run out of stock due to physical limitations — discs, packaging, and other products contingent on ever-dwindling raw materials. Code, after all, is infinite. So these limitations presumably have something to do with player capacity, as a sudden influx of players wouldn’t exactly be great on servers. (Representatives for Square Enix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
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Final Fantasy XIV, though generally popular, is currently experiencing a rush of players. Earlier this month, the website PCGamesN noted that FFXIV broke its all-time record for concurrent players on Steam. Currently, more than 22 million accounts are registered with the game, according to Square Enix figures. It makes sense that the company would want to artificially throttle a new player base — at least a bit.
But Square clearly doesn’t want to limit players too much. In a press release this morning, Square Enix announced “the longest free login campaign” ahead of the Endwalker expansion, offering to lift the subscription fee for 14 days for returning players. That offer ends August 23.
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