MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV have an estimated 2.49 million active players; more than Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft.
The news (as reported by Final Weapon), comes from MMO Population. The latter uses API tools, Reddit, and other resources to calculate player and active player numbers.
Final Weapon also claims their estimates are accurate, as many Final Fantasy XIV players have seen a huge influx of new players and returning old players on all servers. They also state “many WoW players have made the jump to FFXIV recently.”
As of this time of writing, MMO Population list Final Fantasy XIV as having 2.49 million active players, 26.16 million total players, and an “activity score” of 10. The game’s listing on the website has Good “MMO Health;” with a 3.588% rise in playerbase over the last 30 days.
By comparison, the game has toppled World of Warcraft from the top spot. While it as 115.30 million total players, it has only 2.19 million active players, and an activity score of 2. Despite also having Good MMO Health, it has only seen a rise of 0.504% in player numbers over 30 days. World of Warcraft‘s had an all-time high of almost 7.2 million active players in December 2020.
It should be noted this active player numbers also includes those playing the free trial. This allows players to play all the content of A Realm Reborn (the first game), and Heavensward (the first expansion), and raise characters up to level 60 along with other restrictions. Final Fantasy XIV also surpassed 22 million registered players worldwide (including free trial players) as of April 5th.
Activision Blizzard’s Q1 2021 financial report revealed that monthly active users in Blizzard Entertainment games had fallen to 27 million that fiscal quarter; a 29% drop over three years. It should be noted this is not just all World of Warcraft, and other factors may have contributed to this (such as past controversial decisions by Blizzard Entertainment).
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV is almost a rags-to-riches story. The game was poorly received on its 2010 launch, leading to it being re-launched as A Realm Reborn in 2013; with producer Naoki Yoshida taking on the director role. A Realm Reborn took place 5 years after the events of the original game; where the land was slowly rebuilding after a brutal war and Bahamut devastated the land.
Final Fantasy XIV is available to Windows PC, (via the SE Store, and Steam), PlayStation 4, and coming soon to PlayStation 5, and Xbox One. A free trial is available. In case you missed it, you can find our Shadowbringers expansion review here (we can’t recommend it enough!)
The next expansion; Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, launches November 23rd.
World of Warcraft is available on Windows PC, and Mac (via Battle.net). World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, the latest expansion, is also available.
