If you were standing in the crowded streets of Old Sharlayan during those first few weeks, you remember the silence. Not the literal silence of the game—Masayoshi Soken’s score was, as always, doing heavy lifting—but the weird, suspended animation of a community holding its breath. Everyone wants to know when did Endwalker come out, and the short answer is December 2021. But that date is a liar. It doesn't tell you about the delay that made Director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida cry on a livestream. It doesn't mention the weeks of "Error 2002" that turned logging into a literal full-time job for players from London to Los Angeles.
Technically, Endwalker came out for Early Access on December 3, 2021. The "official" global launch followed on December 7, 2021.
But let's be real. If you weren't there, you missed a singular moment in gaming history where a product was so successful it actually had to be taken off the market. Square Enix literally stopped selling the game because the servers were melting. It was a victim of its own hype, a conclusion to a decade-long story arc that began with the literal fire and brimstone of A Realm Reborn.
The Delay That Shook the FFXIV Fandom
Originally, we weren't supposed to be asking about December at all. Square Enix had initially penciled in November 23, 2021, as the big day. Then, the bombshell dropped. During a Letter from the Producer LIVE broadcast, Yoshida-san appeared visibly exhausted. He apologized. He bowed. He pushed the date back by two weeks.
Two weeks feels like nothing in the grand scheme of a ten-year narrative. In the moment? It felt like a tectonic shift. The reason was pure perfectionism. The team realized that the "stability" of the final product—the literal ending of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga—wasn't where it needed to be. They needed more time to fine-tune the experience.
It's rare. You don't see many developers risk the wrath of shareholders by moving a massive expansion out of a prime November slot just to polish the narrative beats. But that’s the Final Fantasy XIV way. The delay moved the Early Access to December 3, and the full launch to December 7.
Why the Release Date Was a Logistics Nightmare
If you’re wondering why the launch felt so heavy, look at the world in late 2021. We were still in the thick of global semiconductor shortages. Square Enix couldn't just "buy more servers." They tried. They offered to pay well above market rate for new hardware to expand the data centers in North America and Europe, but the silicon simply didn't exist.
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So, when Endwalker came out, it hit a brick wall of popularity.
The "Summer of FFXIV" in 2021 had seen a massive influx of players, many migrating from World of Warcraft during a period of intense dissatisfaction with Blizzard. By the time December rolled around, the player base had ballooned.
I remember the queues.
8,000 people.
10,000 people.
You would sit in line for four hours, only to get hit with Error 2002—a connection timeout—and lose your spot. It was brutal. Honestly, it was some of the most stressful "gaming" I’ve ever done. You’d wake up at 5:00 AM just to try and sneak past the rush. Square Enix eventually gave everyone three weeks of free game time as an apology. Think about that. They were so sorry about the state of the launch that they just stopped taking our money for a month.
What Endwalker Actually Delivered at Launch
When people ask when did Endwalker come out, they’re usually looking for the timeline of the content, too. This wasn't just a patch. It was a massive overhaul.
- Level Cap Increase: We went from 80 to 90.
- New Jobs: Sage (the shield healer with the "nouliths" floating around them) and Reaper (the edgy scythe-wielder with the voidsent avatar).
- New Regions: We finally went to Garlemald. We went to the moon. Yes, the actual moon. Mare Lamentorum is still one of the most hauntingly beautiful zones in any MMO.
- The End of an Era: This expansion wrapped up a story that started in 2010. That’s unheard of in this medium.
The story was dense. It was philosophical. It dealt with themes of despair, nihilism, and the heat death of the universe. It wasn't exactly "light" holiday fare, despite the December release. But it resonated. It hit a 92 on Metacritic, making it one of the highest-rated RPGs of the year.
The Patch Cycle Breakdown
The initial release was just the beginning. If you look at the "Endwalker era," it spans much further than December 2021.
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- Patch 6.01 (December 21, 2021): Pandæmonium: Asphodelos raids dropped. This gave us our first taste of the high-end endgame content.
- Patch 6.05 (January 4, 2022): The Savage difficulty raids arrived, along with the Excitatron 6000 map dungeons. This is when the "real" gear grind started for the hardcore players.
- Patch 6.1 (April 2022): "Newfound Adventure." This started the post-Endwalker storyline, proving there was life after the "end" of the world.
Why Does the Release Date Still Matter?
Context is everything. If you play Endwalker today, you're seeing a polished, streamlined version of the expansion. You’re seeing the Duty Support system that lets you play with NPCs. You’re seeing the refined jobs.
But knowing when did Endwalker come out helps you understand the cultural zeitgeist. It came out when we were all stuck inside, looking for a way to process a lot of collective grief. The story of Endwalker is about finding hope in a dying world. It sounds cheesy, but for a lot of us, that December 2021 launch was a lifeline.
Even the flaws—the queues, the errors, the frustration—created a weird sense of community. We were all stuck in the same digital lobby, complaining on Reddit and Twitter, waiting to see how the story ended.
Myths About the Endwalker Launch
There's a lot of misinformation floating around. Some people think the game was "broken" at launch. It wasn't. The code was remarkably stable. The infrastructure was the problem. If you could actually get into the game, it ran like a dream. Unlike many modern AAA releases, there weren't game-breaking bugs or corrupted save files. It was just a matter of getting through the front door.
Others claim that the "Moon" was a spoiler that Square Enix tried to hide. Not really. It was in the trailers. They wanted us to know the stakes were that high. The real surprises were the final zones—places like Elpis and Ultima Thule—which remained tightly under wraps until players actually stepped foot in them.
Practical Steps for New Players Heading into Endwalker
If you are just now reaching the point where you're starting this expansion, you're in a much better spot than we were in late 2021. The "release" is over, but the content is eternal.
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First, don't rush. The narrative is the star of the show here. Unlike other MMOs where the goal is to hit the level cap as fast as possible to start raiding, FFXIV is a visual novel masquerading as an RPG. Read the dialogue. Watch the cutscenes. If you skip, you are robbing yourself of the payoff for hundreds of hours of buildup.
Second, gear up properly. You can usually get away with the gear provided by the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ), but keep an eye on your Item Level (iLvl). By the time you hit the level 83 and 89 trials, the difficulty spikes. Don't be that person who enters a trial with gear from three expansions ago.
Third, engage with the side content. The Studium Deliveries in Old Sharlayan are basically the "reproduction" of the Ishgardian Restoration for crafters and gatherers. They offer incredible lore and easy experience points.
Fourth, prepare for the emotional weight. I’m being serious. This expansion handles some very heavy themes regarding mental health and existentialism. Take breaks if you need to.
Timeline Summary
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Original Announced Release | November 23, 2021 |
| Actual Early Access Date | December 3, 2021 |
| Official Global Launch | December 7, 2021 |
| Sales Suspension | December 16, 2021 |
| Sales Resumed | January 25, 2022 |
It’s been years since that snowy December, and the game has moved on to the Dawntrail era. But Endwalker remains the high-water mark for many. It was a moment in time where the stars aligned—or perhaps crashed together—to create something that felt bigger than just a video game expansion.
To get the most out of your current FFXIV journey, ensure your "Poetics" tomestones are capped before you start the level 80 content. This allows you to buy the Cryptlurker gear in Eulmore immediately, which will carry you comfortably through the first half of the expansion. Check your data center status regularly if you're playing during peak hours, although the login queues of 2021 are, thankfully, a thing of the past. If you're looking for the most efficient way to level your secondary jobs, look into "Bozja" or "Zadnor" content, as it remains a fast track to level 80 before you dive into the Endwalker specific dungeons.
The moon is waiting. Pack some tissues. It’s a long way up.