Arabic version: خوادم أوقيانوسيا تجمع لاعبي «فاينل فانتسي 14»

According to ABC News, Square Enix’s launch of Oceania servers for Final Fantasy XIV in January 2022 helped unite players who had previously been spread across Asia, American and European servers. Before the regional data centre arrived, Australian players could struggle to find English-speaking teammates, encounter quiet activity during mismatched time zones, or face input lag on distant servers.

The servers opened 12 years after the game was released, following a pandemic-era increase in player numbers. Melbourne community organiser Lin said the manageable ping revealed the scale of the local player base, with thousands of people online and queues taking 30 minutes. The regional server also reduced uncertainty over whether players shared a language or understood the same lingo.

The community’s annual Final Fantasy XIV meet-up at PAX Australia has become a major offline gathering. This year’s event moved to a larger venue at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre but was still standing room only. Players travelled from across Oceania, with many wearing costumes based on game characters, including Moogles and green sprout headbands associated with new players.

Two Square Enix figures, localiser Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and global community producer Toshio Murouchi, attended ahead of their panel. Newcastle streamer and organiser Mark Withers said their presence was encouraging because many popular online games do not visit Australia or host dedicated servers for Australian players.

Perth player Ben Wu said the Oceania server enabled him to assemble enough Australian players for Team Fish, which won a regional championship tournament at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Berlin in July. He said the team practised against North American and Japanese teams because latency made rapid decisions against European opponents difficult. Murouchi said local servers could help players see Final Fantasy XIV as their home.