Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringers headstart has officially begun

When our office has gone quiet because half the staff got up at 5 a.m. to sit at their computers, there’s usually only one explanation: Something big has launched. That something big today is Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringers, or more specifically, its headstart for preorder players.

Reddit has a megathread up and has included a spot where folks can chime in on their queues. The highest we see is over 8300 (ouch!), but obviously that’ll depend on your server.

“Currently, the lobby servers are experiencing some heavy load as users log into the game, and we’re working to increase capacity,” Squeenix tweeted a few hours ago. “That said, the process is functioning smoothly, so please be patient while in queue and you’ll be logged in once the queue completes!”

Make sure you check out the patch notes and our unofficial survival guide, plus our massive roundup of all of our coverage of the expansion for those of you stuck at work today. Happy launch folks!