Final Fantasy XIV tests cross-region travel ahead of Dawntrail launch

Final Fantasy XIV players will be able to experiment with cross-regional travel starting on March 25. Players from NA, EU, and Japanese data centers will be able to visit the Oceanic data center and play with friends in that region.

Final Fantasy XIV players have been enjoying cross-world travel now for quite some time. Launched in 2022, the world visit system opened the ability for players on different world servers within their region to play together.

FFXIV’s servers are structured in a three-tier system. The world visit system connected players on different worlds, so long as they were still playing from the same region. For example, if two players in Europe had created characters on different world servers, the world visit system allows them to travel between each other’s worlds to play together.

However, Square Enix has always maintained they had plans to implement a truly cross-regional travel experience eventually… and it looks like that time is approaching.

From March 25 until the launch of Dawntrail, players from Japan, Europe, and North American data centers will be able to travel to the Oceanic data center.

According to the Lodestone announcement, in a bid to deal with queues and player congestion when Dawntrail drops, players from the larger regional data centers will be able to visit the Oceanic data center to avoid waiting times.

The Oceanic data center, Materia, serves as a main hub for players in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is considerably smaller than the other regional data centers. So, it should provide an effective solution for those who want to skip the long queues on launch day.

Testing of the system is beginning early, to ensure everything runs smoothly when the expansion drops. However, the cross-regional travel system is only going to be available temporarily as Square Enix is “still evaluating” the functionality of cross-regional travel in the long term.

According to the announcement, “differences in market economy and social norms between data centers,” explained why the cross-regional system would only be temporary for now.

They also assured players they’d be taking community feedback into consideration when deciding whether to implement cross-regional travel permanently. But so far, the community seems warm to the idea.

“Please let this go well. I am desperate to play with my friends in NA,” said one Reddit user in response to the news.

“Hopefully this will lead to full cross-region DC travel being unlocked at some point during Dawntrail’s release & patch cycle,” agreed another.