Originally slated for ‘mid-June’
Final Fantasy XIV‘s patch cycle is always unpredictable.
Square Enix never gives a firm release date for patches as the system is constantly in flux, instead preferring to provide windows that are more like (pirate voice)…guidelines. “Early May, mid-June, late-July,” that sort of thing. But this time, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the publisher is forced to pivot even further.
Announced by way of their official Lodestone blog, Final Fantasy XIV producer and head honcho Naoki Yoshida noted that given the state of emergency in Tokyo, patch 5.3 (which will bring a new NieR alliance raid into the fold) has been delayed. Originally slated for “mid-June,” the project will now be pushed back at least “two or three weeks,” or potentially “closer to a month.”
Yoshida clarifies that the physical and mental health of the team is paramount, and that there are technical reasons for the delay, like voice recording issues, delayed graphical assets, development holdups and high production/QA team workloads. He also notes that Square Enix will continue to maintain servers from home, and that there is no interruption of service planned. He also thankfully reports that the development team is “all doing fine at present.”
You may have noticed that FFXIV just got a smaller patch recently in 5.25, but Yoshida explains that the bulk of the work was already done before the state of emergency was declared. So enjoy that while we wait!
FFXIV Service and Development [The Lodestone]
