Final Fantasy XIV North American Servers Suffer Major Outage
Final Fantasy XIV players in North America experienced a significant server outage on January 5th, affecting all four data centers. Initial reports suggest the cause was a localized power outage in Sacramento, California, possibly due to a blown transformer, rather than a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Service was restored within an hour.
This outage, while disruptive, differs from the persistent DDoS attacks that plagued the game throughout 2024. DDoS attacks, which flood servers with false traffic, caused high latency and disconnections. While Square Enix employs mitigation strategies, these attacks remain difficult to completely prevent. Players sometimes utilize VPNs as a potential workaround.
Evidence supporting the power outage theory comes from player accounts on the r/ffxiv subreddit. Users reported hearing a loud explosion or popping sound in the Sacramento area, consistent with a blown transformer, shortly before the outage. The timing aligns with the reported downtime. Square Enix acknowledged the issue on the Lodestone and confirmed an ongoing investigation.
Impact and Recovery
The outage was geographically isolated, with European, Japanese, and Oceanic data centers remaining unaffected. Recovery was gradual, with Aether, Crystal, and Primal Data Centers returning to service before Dynamis.
The incident highlights ongoing server challenges for Final Fantasy XIV, particularly given ambitious plans for 2025, including the launch of a mobile version. The long-term consequences of these recurring server issues remain to be seen.
Latest Downloads
Downlaod
Top News
