Final Fantasy 14 Halts Housing Demolition Amid Hurricane Helene Crisis

Final Fantasy 14 has announced a temporary suspension of automatic housing demolition timers due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the eastern United States. This pause affects players on the Aether, Primal, Crystal, and Dynamis Data Centers.

As one of the key features of Final Fantasy 14, player housing is available only to those who have enough Gil and luck to secure a plot of land. Prior to the Endwalker expansion, players were able to buy housing plots on a first-come, first-served basis. Since then, the game has shifted to a lottery system for determining ownership of available plots, allowing players to build houses on them. Currently, Final Fantasy 14 features five housing districts, each divided into 30 wards containing 60 plots, resulting in a total of only 9,000 housing plots per server.

Given the competitive nature of housing in the game, Square Enix has provided a much-needed break for players by pausing the automatic demolition timers. As per the Lodestone, this measure took effect on October 2 at 4:08 AM Eastern Time, specifically for players in the Aether, Primal, Crystal, and Dynamis Data Centers in North America.

The Impact of Hurricane Helene

Square Enix attributed this suspension to the widespread property damage and the resulting power and internet outages caused by Hurricane Helene. Normally, players or Free Company leaders must access their homes at least once every 45 days; otherwise, their plots risk automatic demolition.

With the automatic demolition timers currently on hold, Final Fantasy 14 players can log into their homes to reset these timers. However, Square Enix has noted that this suspension is temporary, and automatic demolitions will resume at an undisclosed date.

Earlier this year, a similar pause on housing demolitions occurred in Japan following severe earthquakes and tsunamis in the Noto Peninsula. That moratorium for the Meteor, Gaia, Mana, and Elemental Data Centers lasted six months and ended with the launch of Patch 7.01 in July.

Square Enix has expressed its thoughts and best wishes to all players impacted by Hurricane Helene. As the company continues to enhance the housing experience in upcoming updates like Patch 7.1, it remains to be seen when automatic demolitions will restart in North America.