Final Fantasy 14 DDoS attack is over, but server problems remain

(Image credit: Square Enix)

The early access launch of MMO Final Fantasy 14's Shadowbringers expansion yesterday was marred by a DDoS attack that disrupted servers across North America. The attack has now been resolved, but a high player count is now causing "extended waiting times" when you try to log in.

The expansion went live for pre-order customers yesterday ahead of full launch on Tuesday, and the DDoS attack—which lasted less than an hour according to a status update—disconnected players from certain worlds, or made it difficult to login. Those issues are now over, Square Enix says, but players are still having trouble getting into the game.

"We are currently experiencing high server congestion on certain worlds," Square Enix said this morning. "We further adjusted server settings from yesterday to additionally increase the maximum number of players that can play on each world. However, certain worlds have already surpassed this number, and players may experience extended waiting times when logging in."

Judging by the official server status page, North American worlds have been the worst hit. The majority are listed as "congested", although a handful are behaving as normal, so you might want to try logging into those first.

It's not the first time the MMO has been hit by a DDoS attack: the release of an expansion in 2017 sparked an attack that went on for nearly a month.

And if you want to find out why Final Fantasy 14 is the best MMO that Steven hates to recommend, click here.

Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play.