Final Fantasy XIV Hits 11-Year Player High with Dawntrail Release

Square Enix launched the new Dawntrail expansion for Final Fantasy XIV this week, and the update has garnered significant player engagement. According to a recent blog post by director and producer Naoki Yoshida, the MMO has achieved its highest-ever concurrent player count since the soft reboot A Realm Reborn in 2013, although exact figures were not disclosed. Yoshida acknowledged some launch issues affecting player experience and expressed apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Tracking Final Fantasy XIV’s player statistics across its various platforms is complex. On SteamDB, the game reached a peak of 71,208 players in the last 24 hours, approaching the peak of 95,150 players seen during the Endwalker launch in 2021. Endwalker was so popular that Square Enix temporarily halted sales before its release, despite initial issues it became a major revenue driver for the company.

Dawntrail’s significance was amplified by the game’s recent debut on Xbox, marking the beginning of a new story arc for the broader game. However, it remains unclear which platform contributed the most to this new concurrent player peak.

In any case, Final Fantasy XIV continues to demonstrate enduring popularity and shows no signs of waning in the near future.