Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIV will soon be re-opening its doors to new players, thanks to an upcoming server expansion that will allow the game to be purchasable once again. Sales will resume on January 25 at 5PM JST.
The Japanese developer-publisher had to cry "uncle" at the influx of new players last December, many of whom were stuck in long queues to play the game thanks to a new expansion, COVID-19 restrictions, and a global semiconductor shortage.
Producer Naoki Yoshida explained in a post that high demand for Final Fantasy XIV means the company still has to keep the much-memed free trial offline, but a combination of new servers and existing players having completed much of the new content means there's more space for new players to try out the game.
"Once again, I wish to apologize for the delays to server expansion caused by the global semiconductor shortage," Yoshida concluded in the blog post. "Despite these hardships, however, we believe this server expansion is a significant step forward in providing players the best gaming experience possible in FFXIV."