Final Fantasy XIV's next update hopes to solve its housing shortage
Foot in the door
Hey, did you know Final Fantasy XIV has a housing shortage? I was not aware Final Fantasy XIV could have a housing shortage, but here we are! Having already announced plans to shore up the shortage last month, Square Enix have now cemented the motion - building 720 new plots of land and erecting a new block of flats in each server when patch 5.35 arrives later this month.
While you don't have to be a homeowner to quest through Squeenix's MMO, it's nice to have a place to set down roots. Unfortunately (and somewhat surprisingly), it's one plot per person. Land ownership is limited, moreso since the game's free trial expanded to include the game's entire first expansion.
That home evictions have been put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic hasn't helped. Great news for homeowners behind on their rent, but tough luck for fresh-faced travellers looking for a step onto the property ladder.
"The travel restrictions introduced in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) currently prevent us from making any large-scale physical expansion to our servers," wrote FFXIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida in a blog post, "and so we are focusing on optimising server processing in order to provide extra plots."
To that end, Square Enix today laid out their plans to bulk out the property market in Eorzea. 720 new plots have been added across four districts, available for purchase the moment the patch drops. Additionally, an apartment building is being added to each ward and subdivision, hosting up to 90 players apiece.
It's wild to me that the endless political efforts to fight off the housing crisis has extended as far as high-fantasy MMOs, but at least it seems Square are taking efforts to actually build more homes (eyyy!). These properties should arrive with patch 5.35, set to drop later this month.