While you would expect that developers of online games would have everything ready weeks in advance given the high-stakes chaos that typically occurs the moment servers go live, in a recent statement by Final Fantasy XIV’s Producer and Director, Naoki “YoshiP” Yoshida, it has been confirmed that the upcoming Endwalker expansion pack has had to be delayed until Early December 2021. This delay is by two weeks from the game’s original 23 November 2021 launch date.
The new schedule for Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker is available below:
Official Release: Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Start of Early Access: Friday, December 3, 2021
Patch 6.01 Scheduled Release: Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Patch 6.05 Scheduled Release: Tuesday, January 4, 2022
So… the reason for the delay? Rather than just sweeping it under a very vague “needed more time to polish the game” statement that many developers tend to use, Yoshida-san has shared a full statement on the Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone website. You can read it all, in its entirety, below:
Reasons for the Schedule Change
The biggest factor behind the release date change was my own selfishness as the game’s director. Ever since I was placed in charge of the original FFXIV, I’ve continued the development and operations for FFXIV over the past 11 years while always endeavoring to balance my position as the producer overseeing the project and the director in charge of development. It was my intention to work in this same manner as we approached the final stages of Endwalker’s development.
As I have mentioned previously in interviews and during live streams, Endwalker will be the largest expansion pack in the history of FFXIV. It has been a huge undertaking, but we proceeded with development following plans that would allow us to make it in time for the originally scheduled release date, although admittedly everything would be down right to the wire.
However, as we neared the end of development and I played through everything—from quests to battle content and the like—I just couldn’t contain my desire to further improve Endwalker’s quality, specifically because this expansion pack marks the first major culmination of events in FFXIV so far. Even as we look beyond Endwalker, the FFXIV story will continue for a long time and we hope to deliver many more enjoyable experiences in the game. However, it was precisely because Endwalker concludes the first major saga that I felt our team needed to push ourselves to the “limits” that I envisioned.
As a result, we remained firmly resolved to adjust down to the smallest nuances and ensure our writing covers even the finest points of the vast and intricate story that has spanned these past 11 years since the original FFXIV to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy their adventure in Endwalker. Unfortunately, the consequence of this was that we ended up in a situation where we cut into the time required for final quality assurance checks due to this time spent on additional improvements.
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.
When I look at my own career, up until now I have never postponed a previously announced release date (although I did once shift a release from Spring to early Summer…) and, when I also considered that many players had already made arrangements such as taking days off work in preparation for the original release date, I was incredibly torn between whether or not we should cut down the expansion pack’s volume or even release content in installments. As such, I humbly ask you all to forgive me for the decision I’ve made.
Final Remarks and Looking Toward the Future
While we have postponed the release date by two weeks, I believe we have been able to successfully depict Endwalker’s story because we set forth on this long journey developing and operating FFXIV together with the players. While we will require a little longer until the expansion pack’s release, please rest assured that we will continue investing every ounce of our strength into development and operations in order to deliver an immersive adventure to our players.
Once more I would like to convey my sincerest apologies for the inconvenience caused to our players and colleagues due to my own shortcomings. I sincerely apologize for this decision.
We will continue to do our utmost to bring you the best experience not only in Endwalker but also through further updates and content that will follow, restoring your trust one step at a time.
Naoki Yoshida
FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer & Director
