In true Square Enix fashion (at least, for the FFXIV team specifically), the devs knew that Island Sanctuary would be popular. However, it seems they didn’t realize just HOW popular it would be, just like they underestimated the launch of Endwalker!
Slice-of-Life games have really risen in popularity in the past several years. Animal Crossing, Minecraft, Terraria, Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Harvestella, Story of Seasons, My Time at Portia…these are only a few in an ever-growing genre.
Looking to add a similar game mode in FFXIV, the Island Sanctuary was announced last year at the same Fan Fest with Endwalker’s announcement. When Endwalker launched, FFXIV players experienced unprecedented queue times as the game went through a surge in active players both new and old.
Now, with Patch 6.2’s launch this past Tuesday, the Island Sanctuary has finally been released. Those who have played in it have already sung its praises for being exactly what they wanted. Unfortunately, that comes with a pretty ugly side of things.
The Island Sanctuary has become so popular, in fact, that it’s congesting the servers for other aspects of the game. Resources have been allocated to the Island Sanctuary to account for this, fixing a problem where players couldn’t access their island because the islands were too full. Yet, this caused another issue.
With the release of Empyreum, the housing district in Ishgard, they implemented a housing lottery system that has received mixed feelings. It’s better than waiting for days at a time to HOPEFULLY get a house, but it still seems more difficult than ever. Yet even if someone were to spend their hard-earned gil on an apartment or successfully purchase a house…they can’t access it right now.
That’s right, the Island Sanctuary is putting such a strain on servers, that players cannot access personal housing. Fortunately this hasn’t affected other aspects of the game, as players are still going wild (rightly so) over the new direction of story.
Here’s what a few players have had to say about it, though:
Are you having trouble in your housing? Let us know below!
