Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn passes 1.5 million registrations, first content patch detailed

After enduring a couple of rough launch issues , it seems that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has a bright, chocobo-filled future ahead as Square Enix has announced more than 1.5 million players have registered for the game since its release two short months ago.

Square Enix's press release also mentioned that the MMO's first content patch drops later this December, bringing new dungeons, player housing, a PVP battle arena and more to the fields of Eorzea. The World Transfer Service , which lets you bring your characters over to different worlds, also opened earlier this week, hopefully making it easier to connect with friends who were lost in the early-launch shuffle.

While it's great to see an MMO succeed in these tough times, the key to success is the length players are willing to stick around. Plenty of MMOs rise up only to eventually slump because people sign up for the first month, devote their lives to discovering every nook and cranny the game has to offer, and then leave before developing a long-term relationship. Star Wars: The Old Republic was considered pretty successful in its early days, but moved to the free-to-play model less than a year after it launched.

I don't want this to come off as some doomsday omen for FF XIV's reborn realm, though—its future is still being written by a million and a half players.