With wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area, the team behind Final Fantasy 14 has opted to put a temporary hold on the automatic demolition of in-game houses on North American servers. This thoughtful move ensures that players impacted by the fires won’t lose their virtual abodes if they’re unable to log in during these challenging times.
The suspension, which covers the Aether, Crystal, Dynamis, and Primal data centers, kicked in on January 9th at 8:20 p.m. PT. The development team plans to keep a close eye on what’s happening in Southern California and will decide when to resume the automatic demolition process. Typically, players face losing their virtual homes if they don’t access the game for 45 days, given how sought-after housing is within this gaming community.
In a heartfelt message, Square Enix expressed their sympathies, stating, “Our thoughts are with those affected by the wildfires around Los Angeles. We sincerely hope for a swift recovery and look forward to welcoming you back to FF14 as soon as possible.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the fires have resulted in at least 10 fatalities, forced over 100,000 residents to evacuate, destroyed 9,000 structures, and scorched tens of thousands of acres. For those wanting to help, the LA Times has compiled a comprehensive list of organizations where you can make donations to support the victims.
