Ancient MMO Final Fantasy 11 still has new things on the horizon 24 years after launch

Final Fantasy 14 isn’t the only Final Fantasy-related MMO. Its ancient ancestor, Final Fantasy 11, which released all the way back in 2002 before World of Warcraft reshaped the landscape for massively multiplayer games, is still trucking along. It’s not exactly bustling next to the likes of FF14, Guild Wars 2, and WoW, but it occasionally attracts so much activity its dusty old servers buckle.

It seems like Square Enix wants to bring the game, if one small step at a time, into the current decade as well. Its website just got a shiny overhaul, and now it looks like something from 15 years ago rather than 25 years ago. Just to be clear, you still have to wrangle the abysmal and esoteric PlayOnline installer to get the game running; this is just a fresh coat of paint for the web.

It’s part of the game’s 24th anniversary celebrations, which you can read about in more detail in a blog post on the new site. The post talks about some in-game festivities as well as new features, like the ability to replay story missions. It also links to a nifty FF11-themed music video which looks like the opening credits to an anime that doesn’t exist.

“The fact that the game has continued to thrive for so long is due to the tremendous support it has received from all of you adventurers out there and the ‘culture’ you have created around the world of Vana’diel,” wrote game director Yoji Fujito in the post. “The game’s success has forced us to update our long-term goals for the project yet again … the entire FFXI team will be hard at work to further solidify the game’s foundation and help it reach its 30th anniversary.”

It certainly sounds like more is on the horizon for the classic MMO. A livestream from Square Enix reportedly shared another tidbit of news yesterday, though I can’t verify it myself as the stream is in Japanese. Reddit user hikiri translated the stream’s FF11-related info in a post, with the headliner being that the game’s 14-day free trial limit will no longer be time limited and will allow players to progress to level 75. “The areas are limited like normal, but you’ll be able to play forever at level 75 on the trial in the OG zones,” the post reads.

In any case, it’s remarkable to see such an old MMO with a more popular sequel by the same company continue to draw in players and get substantial updates. With some MMOs of FF11’s tenure, you’re lucky to find a decent private server that isn’t a cease and desist away from oblivion.