What just happened? Final Fantasy XI was the first massively multiplayer online entry in the iconic JRPG series. Remarkably, it’s still being actively played today – so much so that the developers recently had to temporarily suspend new account registrations due to a surge in player traffic.

Final Fantasy XI was also the first online RPG to offer cross-platform play between PlayStation 2 consoles and Windows PCs. Despite requiring a monthly subscription, FFXI remains remarkably popular. A surge in player activity, from both returning veterans and newcomers, has put a strain on the servers, prompting Square Enix to take temporary but drastic measures to address the issue.

Yoji Fujito, who has served as FFXI’s director since 2016, recently shared a written update on the game’s official website. Square Enix is taking action to ease severe traffic congestion on Asura, the game’s most populated server.

Some servers are now hosting more players than intended, leading to “unexpected” performance issues and a degraded gameplay experience. Asura, in particular, has been heavily impacted. As a result, Square Enix has temporarily suspended new character creation on the server. Additionally, players cannot transfer existing characters to Asura or use the Vana’diel Adventurer Recruitment Program to join friends there.

The Japanese developer will continue monitoring the situation and the number of concurrent users, with the goal of restoring full functionality to the Asura server soon. Fujito confirmed that the studio is still developing new content and revising legacy assets, all while striving to keep the game’s online environment accessible to players around the world.

But how exactly does a PS2-era MMORPG continue to attract and retain a large player base more than two decades later?

Part of FFXI’s enduring popularity stems from periodic discount campaigns aimed at attracting new players. The steady addition of fresh content – and the careful reworking of older systems – has also played a key role. On top of that, the Final Fantasy XIV raid series inspired by FFXI likely encouraged some fans to revisit or discover the original 2002 MMO for the first time.

Ultimately, the continued success of this classic MMO reflects a markedly different philosophy from that of many Western AAA publishers. Ubisoft’s CEO, for instance, recently said that no game experience is eternal, suggesting that online services will inevitably be shut down.

Back in 2022, responding to rumors of an impending shutdown, Fujito took a different stance, stating clearly that Final Fantasy XI is not going anywhere anytime soon.