Final Fantasy 14 restarts controversial housing demolition, to divided community response

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This could be a solution to Eorzea's ongoing housing crisis

A group of Final Fantasy 14 characters gather to watch the Old Sharlayan dock
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 14 devs have decided to resume the automatic demolition of housing estates in January 2023.

Announced just earlier today on December 16, the automatic demolition of housing for Final Fantasy 14 players will resume with patch 6.3, which is scheduled to launch in early January 2023. After initially being suspended back in December 2021, Square Enix has decided the time is finally nigh to resume the feature.

Square Enix writes that if you entered your housing while the suspension period was active (between December 2021 and now), your automatic demolition timer will be reset after patch 6.3. If you haven't entered your housing at all over the past year however, the timer will resume from the time that was left as of December 6, 2021.

If you want to check how long you have left until automatic demolition, head to the Estate tab of the Timers window to see the time remaining. All you need to do to reset the timer, and push it back, is to simply re-enter your housing estate at any point after patch 6.3.

This decision from Square Enix has seriously divided Final Fantasy 14 players. Some see it as an effective and reasonable solution to the ongoing housing crisis, whereby it's near-impossible to get housing lots due to the lack of them, while others are decrying it as a money-grabbing initiative from the company, and a heavy-handed approach to the problem.

If you're unaware, Final Fantasy 14 has been facing a serious housing crisis over the past few years due to the lack of new plots for players to purchase. There have even been problems with the lottery system for housing plots not working, for which game director Naoki Yoshida has apologized numerous times. It remains to be seen if this new measure will actually help the problem in the long term.

Final Fantasy 14 just teased a massive ripped goth girl as a boss, and players are already falling for them.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.