A new North American data center has been in the works for Final Fantasy XIV for years now, and in mid-May, Square Enix is planning to flip the switch. Hopefully, this will decrease latency to those accessing the game in the region and offer improved services.
The studio walked players through the switchover, which will require up to 48 hours of server downtime to perform: “As has been previously announced, with the release of our upcoming expansion Stormblood, we are planning major updates and upgrades to our server system to allow not only for increased server efficiency, but also increased inventory capacity, worldless (cross-world) party matching and friend management, and additional content and increased field size for new areas. All which we hope will contribute to increased playability.”
Square says that EU players might experience higher ping when the relocation happens, but it will work to keep that as low as possible. Amusingly enough, Square Enix isn’t divulging where the data center is located in America due to security concerns for an online title.
