More than 23 years after its original release, Final Fantasy XI is still attracting so many players that Square Enix has been forced to shut off access to its most crowded server.
First launched in 2002, FFXI was the franchise’s first MMO and remains one of the longest-running online RPGs. Despite its age, the game continues to receive monthly updates and seasonal events, and in 2025, it’s experiencing a surprising resurgence.
According to MMO Population, Final Fantasy XI is estimated to have a daily player count of 5,065, with a total player base of 1,777,430. It’s this surge that has overwhelmed Asura, the game’s busiest server, leading to login queues, messaging issues, and delayed in-game functions.
In response, Square Enix has disabled new character creation and server transfers to Asura starting July 29.
FFXI shuts down top server after new player spike
In a statement to players, Producer and Director Yoji Fujito confirmed the move was necessary to ensure stability:
“Thanks to you, Final Fantasy XI recently welcomed its 23rd year of service and continues to be enjoyed by numerous players around the globe. In fact, thanks in part to players that are new to the game, as well as those that are returning home to Vana’diel after being away for a while, the overall player population has been trending upward recently.”
Fujito acknowledged the technical issues caused by the population surge:
“It has been discovered that the concentration of player populations on certain Worlds has led to a series of unexpected issues that have managed to affect the quality of that experience somewhat. This includes things like system messages not displaying properly in Vana’Bout, for example.”
He added that Asura has been particularly affected and explained why restrictions are being put in place:
“We have especially noticed such issues occurring on Asura, so to help ensure stable operations going forward, we are planning to implement the following measures…in order to help even out the World player populations.”
Players who already have characters on Asura can continue playing and create additional characters on that server. However, no new accounts or transfers will be allowed until further notice.
Square Enix has not given a timeline for reopening Asura, but the development team says it will continue monitoring server load and update players when appropriate.
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