Fan-favourite Final Fantasy Set For Huge DLC Two Decades After Release

The Final Fantasy series is as evergreen as any franchise in the gaming industry, epitomised by how a 24-year-old title has just erupted with players and forced Square Enix to take action.

Having consistently released massive DLCs and content drops as if they are entire new games, the Final Fantasy series has mastered the art of player retention.

At the pinnacle of that is FFXI, which originally dropped in 2002 and still has massive concurrent player counts.

Thanks to a revival last year, amid a crossover with FFXIV: Dawntrail, the online title has maintained a steady community much larger than the devs ever expected.

Now, Square Enix is contemplating dropping another DCL, 11 years after its last and 24 years after the game first shipped.

Final Fantasy XI revival has Square Enix making new content drops

The 2002 MMORPG has aged like a fine wine. Having launched to relatively positive reviews, its legacy has been defined by becoming one of the longest-standing supported games ever, receiving five expansion packs while the series continued in its more natural single-player setting.

Having had its story concluded in 2015, with the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, a recent crossover event with FF14 has seen an abundance of nostalgic fans pour back into the servers.

With so much interest, the team has been working on balance patches and is now exploring the idea of adding new areas and bosses.

Square Enix

"We predicted that many people would try out FF11 and soon stop playing, so we expected the player surge to go back down. However, many players have chosen to stay in Vana’diel,” said FFXI Director Yoji Fujito in an interview with Famitsu.

“Overall, the high player count has been stable with no sudden drop.

"We know that we can free up a few ID slots, so we are currently investigating how we can make use of this.

"Depending on the results, I feel that some sort of project might get underway."

The director revealed that they are considering making two new areas with fresh stories and more bosses.

Despite killing off the Xbox 360 and PS2 servers a decade ago, it takes a special game that can stay strong 24 years after its release, and its no shock that Square Enix wants to keep it alive.