Players who were looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood were met with clogged servers, dampening the launch of the MMORPG's latest expansion.
Square Enix has now confirmed that the technical difficulties were not due to a massive influx of players, but rather a series of DDoS attacks that were launched against the servers of Final Fantasy XIV.
DDoS Attacks Take Down 'Final Fantasy XIV'
In an official press release, Square Enix confirmed that the game servers of Final Fantasy XIV, particularly in the North America data center, have been besieged by distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks since June 16. This has led to the reported technical difficulties since then, extending through Stormblood's June 20 release date.
For those not in the know, a DDoS attack attempts to overload a server by flooding its network with traffic coming from a massive number of computers and other internet-connected devices. Due to such an attack, Final Fantasy XIV players are experiencing disconnections and difficulties in logging in.
Square Enix has not yet identified the identity of the attacker but assured gamers that its technical team is "taking every possible measure" to solve the problem. However, the DDoS attacks have not yet ceased, with the perpetrators changing their methods
While Square Enix is working to resolve the issue and fight back against the DDoS attacks, it assured players that Final Fantasy XIV character data and the personal information stored in customer accounts are not in any danger of being compromised.
The Scourge Of DDoS Attacks
The attacker behind the DDoS attacks against Final Fantasy XIV's North American servers remains anonymous, so the reason behind it is still unclear.
What is clear, however, is the frustration for Final Fantasy XIV players as they are not able to enjoy the latest expansion to the MMORPG as a result of the attacks.
"Today, botnets like the one that has plagued Final Fantasy XIV's servers don't have any boundaries," said Jonathan Penn, strategy director for Avast. Computers, printers, video game consoles, and any other device connected to the internet can be used as part of a DDoS attack.
Penn warns that, with the further development of the internet of things, these DDoS attacks will become much harder to stop. DDoS attacks may soon even become fully autonomous, using artificial intelligence to take down servers. With such power, video game servers will not be the only target of such attacks.
Stormblood On The Sidelines
As Square Enix moves to resolve its server problems, Final Fantasy XIV players are forced to shelve Stormblood, which started with an early-access period on June 16 and fully launched on June 20.
Stormblood adds two new jobs to the MMORPG, namely the Red Mage and the Samurai, along with new dungeons and new raids while increasing the level cap to 70.
To increase the player base for Final Fantasy XIV ahead of the arrival of Stormblood, Square Enix dropped the 14-day limit for the MMORPG's trial version. This allowed gamers to play until the reach level 35, after which they can choose to create a new character or purchase Final Fantasy XIV to keep playing.
