Final Fantasy 14 just broke its concurrent player record on Steam

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 14 hit a concurrent player count of 47,542 in the last 24 hours, according to SteamDB. That beats its previous record of 41,200, which it set in June of 2020 as players returned for the Shadowbringers expansion (numbers courtesy of SteamDB). The thing is, this time those players aren't here because of any new additions to Final Fantasy 14. Endwalker won't be out until November. They mostly seem to be disgruntled World of Warcraft players who've followed popular WoW streamers like Asmongold, taking up another MMO while WoW is in a lull.

First Fantasy?

Starting Final Fantasy 14 for the first time? Check out our beginner's guide to Final Fantasy 14 to make the most of your first character while avoiding some headaches. If you're a returning player, here's our guide to getting back into Final Fantasy 14.

That peak in player numbers came a day after Asmongold began streaming it to over two million followers. He's not alone, with CohhCarnage recently picking up it up as well. Their viewers, and those of every WoW streamer who grew dissatisfied during the 218-day wait for the Chains of Domination update, have been getting a taste of the best MMO you can play in 2021. So far, they seem to like it.

In the past, all it's taken for Blizzard to win back WoW players is to knock it out of the park with the next update or expansion. Maybe that'll happen again, or maybe FF14 has what it takes to hold onto these new players. I've been reliably informed that it's a critically acclaimed MMORPG with a free trial up to level 60 including the Heavenward expansion.

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.