FF14 before this month's surge: 1.2 million active players above level 61, 250k increase since April; more players than Shadowbringers' launch

Dreamboum · Jul 18, 2021

Keep in mind this does not take into account the increased interest of FF14 this month, as most new players can't realistically reach the level 60 cap under a month. Free trial members are not included too, as you need a character over 60 to be counted

- 1.2 million active players (not total sub count, just people still playing regularly)
- The number of active characters has increased by 250 000 since April
- An increase of 5000 to 6000 active players in most NA servers since April
- This does NOT count any characters below level 60 so no free trial players or beginners, or not even people who bought and subbed to the game but hasn't reached level 60 yet
- ~213 000 new players who joined the game and are above lv60
- ~231 000 returning players who stopped playing the game before April

"Active" means:

the character's levels and experience values have changed since the previous survey, or

the character's number of minions or mounts possessed has changed since the previous survey, or

the character is newly created since the previous survey

This means the amount of active characters is still above the last survey, even when the previous surveys counted every character above level 35 and not 61

The results are ABOVE the launch period of Shadowbringers despite being a lull period with COVID delaying the launch of Endwalker. The Endwalker expansion will be gargantuan and the peak of FF14

Kalentan · Jul 18, 2021

Damn and that's just people above level 61? Daaaamn.

rpm · Jul 18, 2021

Damn, above Shadowbringers numbers is crazy, considering there's nothing really going on right now in-game

Cenauru · Jul 18, 2021

The Endwalkers hype train has no brakes.

DrForester · Jul 18, 2021

Raubahn planning his revenge.

WhoaIsThatMars · Jul 18, 2021

Servers are gonna be on fire in November.

Dreamboum · Jul 18, 2021

Most impressive is that FF14 has more active players now than during Shadowbringers' launch. MMO typically experiences a massive drop-off after the launch window. FF14 somehow is defying the odds and gets its highest player count yet during a lull period

Wispmetas · Jul 18, 2021

It's a good game.

Nakenorm · Jul 18, 2021

You love to see it

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Endwalker is almost certainly gonna be the biggest launch of the year other than CoD. Holy shit.

Deleted member 9330 · Jul 18, 2021

So uhhhhh they said that server investment wasn't coming until after EW right? May want to aggressively move up that timeline.

Yuntu · Jul 18, 2021

Okay being above Shadowbringers launch is actually mindboggling.

TaleSpun said:
Endwalker is almost certainly gonna be the biggest launch of the year other than CoD. Holy shit.

Nah. Like FFXIV is doing fantastic but not "selling better than everything except CoD" levels. Not even WoW at peak could prob do that.

Valcrist · Jul 18, 2021

Zeyphersan said:
So uhhhhh they said that server investment wasn't coming until after EW right? May want to aggressively move up that timeline.

Memories of Raubahn EX return

Gamer @ Heart · Jul 18, 2021

You reading the thread.

Final Fantasy 14 has an unlimited free trial up to level 60 including the critically acclaimed Heavensward Expansion!

Non joking: it's an RPG with an MMO attached and incredibly single player friendly as the leveling IS the story. Whatever hangups you have about it being an MMO and afraid of some sort of commitment are imaginary and in your head. If you play JRPGs, then you should know what to expect, pick it up when your free, drop it when your busy, come back when you want. None of it requires being tackled all at once.

Kalentan · Jul 18, 2021

TaleSpun said:
Endwalker is almost certainly gonna be the biggest launch of the year other than CoD. Holy shit.

While that would be amazing, I'm pretty sure Battlefield 2046 will probably have that spot lol

Third isn't bad tho.

Kromeo · Jul 18, 2021

We might see the power of Raubahn and Pippin Ex combine for the Endwalker launch

SoulsHunt · Jul 18, 2021

Incredible, I'm one of them.

Dark Knight · Jul 18, 2021

Cenauru said:
The Endwalkers hype train has no brakes.

So many heroes that deign to play their part.

StarStorm · Jul 18, 2021

Servers are gonna be on fire when Endwalker drops.

kurahador · Jul 18, 2021

Hope Square-Enix sees this and think "Hmmm...we need another MMO in the west" and release Dragon Quest X finally.

/copium

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Yuntu said:
Nah. Like FFXIV is doing fantastic but not "selling better than everything except CoD" levels. Not even WoW at peak could prob do that.

That isn't what I said?

Kalentan said:
While that would be amazing, I'm pretty sure Battlefield 2046 will probably have that spot lol

Third isn't bad tho.

Forgot about BF, but yeah, definitely.

Sawyer · Jul 18, 2021

Moon's overcrowded

Yuntu · Jul 18, 2021

TaleSpun said:
That isn't what I said?

Forgot about BF, but yeah, definitely.

Then I don't understand your post. Biggest launch implies biggest selling other than CoD, no?

ZeoVGM · Jul 18, 2021

Yuntu said:
Okay being above Shadowbringers launch is actually mindboggling.

Nah. Like FFXIV is doing fantastic but not "selling better than everything except CoD" levels. Not even WoW at peak could prob do that.

"Biggest launch" doesn't necessarily mean "selling better than everything." There are a lot of metrics to look at with Endwalker beyond sales, such as peak players online, new subs, etc.

Dolce · Jul 18, 2021

FFXIV is quite weird. Shadowbringers launch was actually lower than some of the late Stormblood numbers, IIRC, and it was also lower than some of the Shadowbringers patches.

TaleSpun said:
Endwalker is almost certainly gonna be the biggest launch of the year other than CoD. Holy shit.

That's unlikely. There will be a lot of games that have bigger launches. There's a reason SE never gives. Endwalker won't even sell 5 million copies before 2022. It may not even sell that much through 2023. People have to take these numbers into context.

ZeoVGM said:
"Biggest launch" doesn't necessarily mean "selling better than everything." There are a lot of metrics to look at with Endwalker beyond sales, such as peak players online, new subs, etc.

Sure but how else are you going to compare it to other games? None of these other games even have subscriptions.

Yuntu · Jul 18, 2021

ZeoVGM said:
"Biggest launch" doesn't necessarily mean "selling better than everything." There are a lot of metrics to look at with Shadowbringers beyond sales, such as peak players online, new subs, etc.

Still don't think it will get there even then. I mean I love the game and think it would deserve it but I just don't see this happening on that scale.

hibouho · Jul 18, 2021

let me in

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Yuntu said:
Then I don't understand your post. Biggest launch implies biggest selling other than CoD, no?

This thread is about active users and player counts. I'm assuming there's gonna be another influx of lapsed players that aren't part of the current wave because there isn't much MSQ to go through right now and that's what they log in for. I'm just thinking in terms of what's going to be played that week, not necessarily how much they sell or how much they gross individually.

Jared · Jul 18, 2021

I'd love to try it but fit whatever reason I have a square account on my PS5 and I can't reset the password. Seems like way too much trouble to try and go through customer service.

Yuntu · Jul 18, 2021

TaleSpun said:
This thread is about active users and player counts. I'm assuming there's gonna be another influx of lapsed players that aren't part of the current wave because there isn't much MSQ to go through right now and that's what they log in for. I'm just thinking in terms of what's going to be played that week, not necessarily how much they sell or how much they gross individually.

Yeah as I said above, even then I don't see it. It will be one of the big sucess stories from this year but not on the scale that only something like CoD could overtake it.

Cenauru · Jul 18, 2021

At this point it seems like FFXIV will be unavoidable to anyone even adjacent to JRPG's and spends any amount of time online discussing them.

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Yuntu said:
Yeah as I said above, even then I don't see it. It will be one of the big sucess stories from this year but not on the scale that only something like CoD could overtake it.

The thing is though, it's a dry covid year also. There aren't even that many games releasing for it to compete with to start. There's CoD and BF, and… what? GTAV sports? Everyone already owns that. I don't really see how this wouldn't be defacto third place unless something else I forgot is also releasing in the fall.

Dolce · Jul 18, 2021

TaleSpun said:
This thread is about active users and player counts. I'm assuming there's gonna be another influx of lapsed players that aren't part of the current wave because there isn't much MSQ to go through right now and that's what they log in for. I'm just thinking in terms of what's going to be played that week, not necessarily how much they sell or how much they gross individually.

Just FWIW, it's extremely unlikely FFXIV hits 2 million active players during Endwalker. 1.5M would be the next reasonable expectation. And those people don't all play at once.

TaleSpun said:
The thing is though, it's a dry covid year also. There aren't even that many games releasing for it to compete with to start. There's CoD and BF, and… what? GTAV sports? Everyone already owns that. I don't really see how this wouldn't be defacto third place unless something else I forgot is also releasing in the fall.

Final Fantasy XIV userbase doesn't really compete with those games. Big AAA titles releasing or not releasing isn't going to change it much. FFXIV does not "compete" with Battlefield, COD, etc. People aren't going to play an MMO because a game like that did or didn't release.

FakePlasticTree · Jul 18, 2021

Sawyer said:
Moon's overcrowded

It'll crash into Eorzea then we gotta do another Realm Reborn.

Arkeband · Jul 18, 2021

I really hope they upgrade the servers sooner than later, looking at queues of over 433 that barely move when last month you'd be unlucky to sit in a queue of a few dozen people, if any.

Dolce · Jul 18, 2021

Arkeband said:
I really hope they upgrade the servers sooner than later, looking at queues of over 433 that barely move when last month you'd be unlucky to sit in a queue of a few dozen people, if any.

What server are you playing on?

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Gravijah said:
Final Fantasy XIV userbase doesn't really compete with those games. Big AAA titles releasing or not releasing isn't going to change it much. FFXIV does not "compete" with Battlefield, COD, etc. People aren't going to play an MMO because a game like that did or didn't release.

I think any time a player base is growing like this a lack of just other video games in general releasing only helps. Even if not (and I maintain it does) there still isn't any direct competition to speak of.

Arkeband · Jul 18, 2021

Gravijah said:
What server are you playing on?

Gilgamesh, which is typically one of the most populated US servers, yet it never has these login queues.

Shahed · Jul 18, 2021

Would I be counted as active?

I have all classes at 80 since around 5.1 and I don't particularly care about Mounts or Minions.

By that criteria, would active even apply to me?

Dolce · Jul 18, 2021

TaleSpun said:
I think any time a player base is growing like this a lack of just other video games in general releasing only helps. Even if not (and I maintain it does) there still isn't any direct competition to speak of.

There's still quite a bunch of large games releasing this year is the thing, like Pokemon BDSP, which is more likely to have the FFXIV playerbases attention than Battlefield.

Arkeband said:
Gilgamesh, which is typically one of the most populated US servers, yet it never has these login queues.

Primal has about 40-50 primetime queues right now, usually it's about 30ish. I think it's likely related to people following Asmongold as he plays on Aether.

laoni · Jul 18, 2021

Shahed said:
Would I be counted as active?

I have all classes at 80 since around 5.1 and I don't particularly care about Mounts or Minions.

By that criteria, would active even apply to me?

If you'd picked up even one minion/mount since the last time they did the census (April) then yes you count

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Gravijah said:
There's still quite a bunch of large games releasing this year is the thing, like Pokemon BDSP, which is more likely to have the FFXIV playerbases attention than Battlefield.

Pokemon is a good example, yeah. I'm not pedantic enough to pull up a release calendar, but the field being relatively clear combined with the current growth is priming them for a record launch even bigger than what I think most of us already expected. However one chosses to define that.

Dolce · Jul 18, 2021

TaleSpun said:
Pokemon is a good example, yeah. I'm not pedantic enough to pull up a release calendar, but the field being relatively clear combined with the current growth is priming them for a record launch even bigger than what I think most of us already expected. However one chosses to define that.

Oh Endwalker will definitely have a record launch for FFXIV.

Just for curiosity, here's the historic data. So you can get an idea of when FFXIV jumps up and down in terms of active players.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comm...d_data_from_lucky_banchos_7_february/gmp1et8/

That reminds me, you can see there that the highest number of paying subs for FFXIV there is 700,000 around Shadowbringers launch. That's last time SE has given us a number. It's also different (underneath) the active players count.

DrForester · Jul 18, 2021

Gravijah said:
There's still quite a bunch of large games releasing this year is the thing, like Pokemon BDSP, which is more likely to have the FFXIV playerbases attention than Battlefield.

Primal has about 40-50 primetime queues right now, usually it's about 30ish. I think it's likely related to people following Asmongold as he plays on Aether.

I've been leveling an alt on Cactuar and I didn't notice a huge queue jump after he started outside of that first day. I don't follow him or his stream, so maybe I'm just logging in when he's not there. I think the biggest queue I've seen was 80 one time, but normally it's in the sub 50 range and takes a few minutes at most.

Richietto · Jul 18, 2021

Thats is an incredibly high jump with it only counting players above Lv. 60. Like holy shit.

Netherscourge · Jul 18, 2021

How is the combat?

Is it like WoW? Instants, procs, timers and counters?

Or is it different?

Also, is this "Holy Trinity" MMO gameplay? Or something else?

Been playing WoW since 2004. I'm kinda of burned out, but not looking to get into the same type of MMO.

Ryuelli · Jul 18, 2021

I gave it a second shot with this resurgence (I played it for a little bit during ARR), but it's definitely not for me. I don't like the art direction (why does everything look so shiny?) or gameplay nearly as much I do with WoW and the weird cosmetics people wear is really annoying to me personally (is there any way to turn off transmog? That might help... seeing people walk around in what looks like a bikini is just really odd). The nameplates on everything is way too big for my liking, but apparently there isn't really any way to make them smaller.

I'm not too surprised though, because Final Fantasy as a whole isn't really something I've ever enjoyed.

Netherscourge said:
How is the combat?

Is it like WoW? Instants, procs, timers and counters?

Or is it different?

Also, is this "Holy Trinity" MMO gameplay? Or something else?

Been playing WoW since 2004. I'm kinda of burned out, but not looking to get into the same type of MMO.

It's pretty similar to WoW, but feels a little slower. It's definitely more WoW-esque than something like GW2 though, that's for sure.

Shahed · Jul 18, 2021

laoni said:
If you'd picked up even one minion/mount since the last time they did the census (April) then yes you count

Last mount I got would have been from Eden Savage, so before April. I only did a few runs of Diamond for the Triple Triad card.

Can't really think of anywhere I would have gotten a minion from. And if I did get one, I sell them on MB.

If Titles counted, then the one for clearing UwU might have done something. But if it is indeed Mounts and Minions, then I am in fact considered inactive

rpm · Jul 18, 2021

Netherscourge said:
I'm kinda of burned out, but not looking to get into the same type of MMO.

FFXIV is largely the same type of MMO. Holy trinity, tab targeting, instants, procs, cooldowns, etc.

The bigger differences are outside of combat.

TaleSpun · Jul 18, 2021

Gravijah said:
Oh Endwalker will definitely have a record launch for FFXIV.

Just for curiosity, here's the historic data. So you can get an idea of when FFXIV jumps up and down in terms of active players.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comm...d_data_from_lucky_banchos_7_february/gmp1et8/

That reminds me, you can see there that the highest number of paying subs for FFXIV there is 700,000 around Shadowbringers launch. That's last time SE has given us a number. It's also different (underneath) the active players count.

Oh, this is interesting, thanks!

FF14 before this month's surge: 1.2 million active players *above level 61*, 250k increase since April; more players than Shadowbringers' launch

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FF14 before this month's surge: 1.2 million active players above level 61, 250k increase since April; more players than Shadowbringers' launch