After a faulty initial run in 2010, Final Fantasy 14 was literally rebuilt from the ground up with the release of A Realm Reborn. Since then, the critically-acclaimed MMORPG has seen great success, with every new expansion pack attracting more players than the last. Now approaching its 10-year anniversary, Final Fantasy 14 is still incredibly popular.
However, as fans of World of Warcraft are aware, no king rules forever. An MMORPG cannot exist indefinitely, and Final Fantasy 14 is no exception. Eventually, Final Fantasy 14 is going to have to face the music and contend with its own mortality; the question is how long it will live until it sees the end.
Final Fantasy 14 May Not Want to Overstay Its Welcome
The Shadowbringers expansion saw Final Fantasy 14 soar to new heights, which only grew higher with Endwalker. The game became so popular that Final Fantasy 14 even had to halt sales to combat overpopulation while it expanded its server capacity. A year after Endwalker, and that peak of player population has begun to dip, with cracks beginning to appear in Final Fantasy 14.
As one of the oldest examples on the market, it is impossible not to think of World of Warcraft when considering an MMO's longevity. It turned 10 in 2014 -- the same year WoW released Warlords of Draenor, one of the worst expansions in its history. Though the subsequent Legion expansion was great, Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands were less successful, with the latter pushing droves of players to check out Final Fantasy 14 instead. WoW’s later life has marred by more failure than it has seen success.
The same could happen to Final Fantasy 14. Endwalker was excellent, but players have begun to find faults in the game in the last few years. Final Fantasy 14 classes have begun to lose their identity, and the gameplay loop and release schedule is starting to feel stale. The success of Dragonflight has also drawn many World of Warcraft players back from Final Fantasy 14 as well. With director and producer Naoki Yoshida also in charge of Final Fantasy 16, there's cause to wonder if it would be best for him to focus on newer projects, rather than splitting resources to keep Final Fantasy 14 alive.
Final Fantasy 14 Has Only Just Begun
On the other hand, Final Fantasy 14 is far from finished. There are regularly over a million players on any given day, only regularly falling behind Path of Exile, RuneScape, and the combined population of regular WoW and Classic WoW. Final Fantasy 14 has nearly the same number of daily players as Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and The Elder Scrolls Online -- all MMOs also roughly 10 years old -- combined.
Final Fantasy 14 is showing no signs of slowing down yet. Its next expansion is expected to release early next year, bringing a graphical overhaul to Final Fantasy 14. Yoshida himself does not intend to abandon it for Final Fantasy 16 or any other game in the future. In fact, he maintains FF14's success influenced Final Fantasy 16 in a big way. According to recent interviews, he hopes to keep Final Fantasy 14 going for at least another 10 years.
Ultimately, World of Warcraft is turning things around in Dragonflight, and is still going strong, despite its 20-year anniversary arriving next year. Final Fantasy 14’s MMO predecessor Final Fantasy 11 only just went into maintenance mode this March after its own 20-year anniversary. There may be a day when Final Fantasy 14 does the same, but that day is still probably a long way off. While Final Fantasy 14 is far from a new MMO at this point, it still has plenty of life in it.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.