The popularity of Final Fantasy XIV cannot be understated. Not only is the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) getting a live-action adaptation, there are couples who even have their weddings themed around the game.

This popularity means that with every expansion, the game gets a huge influx of players, both new and returning, to inhabit the world of Final Fantasy with fellow gamers.

Endwalker, the latest expansion of Final Fantasy XIV, will be officially released on Dec 7, 2021, but Square Enix has allowed players who pre-ordered the expansion to play it early on Dec 4, 2021.

However, this early access to the expansion led to a deluge of players logging in, resulting in long server queues. In a blog post, Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of Final Fantasy XIV, details the reasons behind the congestion and fixes that will be put in place to address players' concerns.

More importantly, Yoshida also mentioned that Square Enix will be giving players free game time.

"We have decided that during the official release of Endwalker on Dec 7, we will be granting seven days of free game time to all players who own the full version of the game and have an active subscription."

This compensation will be given to all active players in the form of a free trial, and Square Enix might extend the amount of free game time depending on how the congestion situation works out.

Sadly, while more game time is appreciated, anyone who has played an MMO on early release knows it doesn't match up. After all, the headstart is something that gamers will dedicate time to in order to stay ahead of the crowd. Sitting in server queues isn't the most fun anyway.

Nonetheless, it's still a welcome gesture. But the real test comes when the main bulk of the players arrive on Dec 7.

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This article was first published in Geek Culture.