Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn looks like is on its way to becoming a successful MMORPG, but it is also becoming a victim of its own success. Square Enix has released an announcement regarding the difficulties associated with the launch of the game and its popularity:

We would like to thank all our customers for their continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Since the beginning of official service on August 27, 2013, the number of users attempting to access the game has significantly exceeded our initial estimates. While we are pleased to see support for the game reach far beyond our expectations, the servers were not prepared to handle this influx of players. As a result, our servers have been pushed beyond maximum capacity. In order to allow access to as many users as possible, we have implemented login and character creation restrictions. We understand, however, that these restrictions have greatly inconvenienced our players.

Since the announcement, Square Enix brought down the servers for 10 hours in order to increase the number of available worlds, reduce stress on the Duty Finder Servers (dungeon queuing system), and to increase the number of concurrent logins possible on each server.

They have also promised a free week of play time to be added to all accounts that are active before the end of the day on September 9th, pacific daylight time.

Because login and character creation restrictions have hindered our ability to provide quality service, all FINAL FANTASY XIV service accounts will receive an additional seven days of free play time. Furthermore, users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on September 9, 2013. Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner.

The additional seven days will be reflected on service accounts after maintenance has concluded on September 4, 2013, which can be confirmed by accessing the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.(http://sqex.to/Msp)

We thank you again for your patience and understanding as we continue to address these issues, and look forward to your continued support of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Check back soon for more Gamer Horizon coverage of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.