Every year, Final Fantasy XIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida shares a letter reflecting on the year that was with a hint of what’s to come. Kicking off 2022, the year of the tiger, Yoshida recounts the production issues stemming from the COVID-19 global pandemic that lead to a lot of challenges meeting the game’s expanding player base.

Procuring equipment to build additional servers due to a shortage of semiconductor components was a root cause of the massive wait times that arrived with the Endwalker expansion launch, a setback Yoshida has apologized for on several occasions, as the team worked to alleviate congestion through other measures.

“Setting aside game content, the large influx of players around the world since mid-year and the impact of Covid-19 on the supply of server equipment have led to extremely long login queues, and I’d like to sincerely apologize again. We’re currently working to fundamentally address the situation, such as adding logical data centers and increasing the number of Worlds in all regions, and we ask for your patience in the meantime.”

While the worst of the congestion appears to behind us as winter break concludes, primetime hours may still have a bit of a wait. Luckily, a pernicious disconnection error (2002) that often kicked players out of their queue position seems to have largely abated.

Looking ahead, Yoshida states that the team is planning for another ten years of operation, and that the first post-launch patch will begin a new adventure beyond the conclusion of the Zodiark and Hydaelyn saga. As is tradition, he also shared a poem that portends of what’s to come. [See below.]

“FFXIV has surpassed ten years of operation – a goal that all MMORPGs should aspire towards – and now we set our sights on ten more. The first step in this new leg of our journey is Patch 6.1, ahead of which we’ll take the opportunity to share our plans for FFXIV’s future. Please look forward to it.”

You can read our review of the Endwalker here. Additionally, the Heavensturn limited-time seasonal event will start on January 5th.

So wanes the moon before the sun,

Its journey ended, home at last.

So look we now to days ahead,

Unfettered from our trying past.

—From the memoirs of a reconciled man