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The story behind Dawntrail‘s reception is one that many know now. While we scored it fairly high here, it was not without its issues. Mainly the storytelling. With FFXIV relying on its narrative more than in any of its other systems, the fact that the plot wasn’t compelling has caused a lot of discontent among the playerbase, leading to a lower player count, according to some sources. It’s sad, really, because FFXIV took the MMO crown overnight a few years ago, and it now seems that the roads in Eorzea are full of bumps.
FFXIV Player Count Has Decreased Between 7.0 and 7.1
According to information provided by Lucky Bancho, FFXIV saw a drop in its player count between the release of patch 7.0 and the recent patch 7.1. This is surprising as it was usually the other way around. According to the above post, most expansions have seen growth between their initial patches and the x.1 update. These are the following examples:
- Stormblood had 663,000 players in 4.0 and 830,000 on or before patch 4.1.
- Endwalker had 1.3 million players in patch 6.0 and 1.7 million on or before patch 6.1.
However, it seems Dawntrail started with 1.4 million players and only had 1.1 million on or before patch 7.1. While a million Warriors of Light is still impressive, the change is noticeable and is already showing that this expansion doesn’t have enough things to justify a permanent subscription.
Another data that the above post mentions claims that only 39% of the game’s playerbase returned to patch 6.1, compared to the roughly 45% that previous expansions saw. It might not seem like a big hit right now, but many are worried about these figures reaching a new low in the future.
Is FFXIV Dying?
Not at all. Many doom-posters will start looking at these numbers and go “gg FFXIV,” or whatever the new generations say, but in truth, the player count is still high. Yet, we can all agree that Dawntrail has many issues that need fixing. 7.0 was not a bad patch in terms of gameplay, but it still caters a bit more to those who prefer hardcore content, and those casual gamers usually finish the story, the first four raids, and call it a day. 7.1 brought a new Alliance Raid and the Chaotic Raid, with the latter also aimed toward hardcore WoLs. Again, not a lot to keep the casual players around. And while Naoki Yoshida has mentioned that taking a break from FFXIV is fine and he intends not to make the game feel like a chore, it is really lacking some engaging endgame content nowadays.
For now, we can only wait for patch 7.2. Apparently, it will bring a new Bozja-like zone, although it hasn’t been confirmed, the new Arcadion Raids, and maybe something else. However, the release schedule and model for endgame activities have become repetitive, and players are starting to complain. You only need to play one expansion to realize what’s coming next: the first patch has the story and raids. The next patch is another Alliance Raid with some extra content, and the story repeats. Hopefully, FFXIV will start working on something different to keep players around and justify a subscription to this MMO after an expansion’s initial release.
