FFXIV Endwalker release date delayed by two weeks

Last Updated on: 6th November 2021, 02:51 am

Today, FFXIV fans expected to tune into a rather tame Letter from the Producer LIVE for some housekeeping before the release of the upcoming expansion, Endwalker. Usually, those right before expac launch are filled with less intense news such as crafting and gathering updates or the like. However, Naoki Yoshida announced only moments ago that the Endwalker release date is being pushed back by exactly two weeks.

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The new Endwalker release date is December 7th for the general public and December 3rd for early access. This is exactly a two-week delay from the initial dates of November 23rd and 19th respectively. Immediately after the announcement, producer and director Naoki Yoshida took time to explain the reasons for the delay.

Ultimately, it came to a sort of self-admitted perfectionism from Yoshi-P. Endwalker is the culmination of the entire main story arc of FFXIV so far and the first expansion to completely tie up the story before post-launch patches. Any story added between now and 7.0 will all be part of the “new” arc. As such, Yoshi-P described a need for Endwalker to be as great as it could possibly be and that more time for quality assurance would be needed.

As someone currently listening to the broadcast, albeit a few minutes behind, it’s clear the man is tearing up and sniffing. With delays already brought about for the expansion due to COVID-19 as well as the delayed introduction of Data Center Travel due to the intense wave of new players, Yoshida clearly understands the pressure placed upon the team for Endwalker.

Ever since spearheading A Realm Reborn, Naoki Yoshida has consistently grown the game and community of FFXIV for years, bringing joy to over 24 million people. While the delay is a sad one and admittedly rather sudden, I think that it is for the best. Rarely do you see developers lay it out so honestly, let alone on a live stream and even reacting to chat members, even acknowledging that some people took days off from work to play the expansion.

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Was there any way the team could possibly deliver the Endwalker experience they desired on the original Endwalker release date, I’m sure we would have never seen news of this delay. As such, let’s stay patient for an extra two weeks for an expansion that hopefully surpasses the legacy of Shadowbringers.

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Also admittedly I’d rather the launch be around finals and not around the due dates of four group projects. Totally unrelated…