The Final Fantasy 14 gaming community will be facing imminent discontinuation of specific in-game systems, as Square Enix has announced the decision to withdraw support. Stay updated on the latest developments concerning the removal of these systems that will impact a certain group of players.
Square Enix confirmed that Final Fantasy 14 would officially end support for users playing the game on 32-bit versions of Windows and via the DirectX 9 client. While it has been possible to play either affected version despite waning support in 2019, a Final Fantasy 14 update arriving in March will officially stop Windows users from playing the game unless they use a 64-bit operating system and DirectX 11.
The announcement arrived following the release of Patch 6.55, which saw several side stories conclude. The patch also sought to bridge the gap in the main story between the outgoing Endwalker expansion and the pending release of Dawntrail in the summer. While no release date was given at the time of writing, the new expansion for Final Fantasy 14 will introduce two new Jobs, the sword-wielding Viper and the magical artist known as the Pictomancer. Plus, the Dawntrail expansion will bring the first major graphical update to Final Fantasy 14 since its relaunch as A Realm Reborn, bringing updated textures across the board.
Due to these new graphical updates to character models and environmental textures coming in Dawntrail, some Final Fantasy 14 players will be forced to make some upgrades to play the game. According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy 14's upcoming Patch 6.58 will require Windows players to use a 64-bit operating system and to use the DirectX 11 version of the game, as the update will remove the ability for players to use the DirectX 9 client altogether. At the time of writing, Windows players can switch between the game's DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 within the game launcher's settings. Come Patch 6.58, Final Fantasy 14's PC version will require players to use 64-bit versions of Windows 10 or 11.
Final Fantasy 14 Patch 6.58 Details
The change does not apply to the macOS or the console versions of Final Fantasy 14. While no precise date was given for Patch 6.58, nor any additional context given for what players can expect in the update, Square Enix's announcement is not the only one of its kind to come from AAA developers in 2024. On February 1, Rockstar Games confirmed it is ending Windows 7 and 8 support with a new update to the Rockstar Games Launcher. Though the move was announced in October 2023, Rockstar Games said the change was in line with Microsoft ending support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 entirely.
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