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FFXIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida has announced a delay for the planned NA data center expansion. Originally planned for August 2022, Yoshida revealed that the first phase of the expansion will instead start in November 2022. The schedule for the second phase of the expansion will remain unchanged.
Yoshida explains that the main reason for the delay was related to recent semiconductor shortages. Specifically, the company’s server vendor had informed Square Enix that it would be unable to deliver the required equipment due to the shortage. While Square Enix had tried to find another solution, it ultimately decided to delay the first phase of the expansion.
The planned data expansion will add a total of eight new worlds for North American players to play in. The newly added worlds will arrive in two phases and will fall under a new logical data center. The first phase will add four worlds, with the second phase adding an additional four worlds. Square Enix expects the second phase of the expansion to roll out sometime in the Spring or Summer of 2023.
Japanese and European data centers received a similar expansion as part of the 6.18 patch, released on July 5, 2022. That update also added data center travel, which allows players to transfer their characters to new servers. However, Square Enix was later forced to suspend data center travel due to congestion.
Final Fantasy XIV is available to play on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. The first phase of the NA data center expansion will arrive in November 2022. The second phase will arrive in Spring or Summer 2023.
