Square Enix has made an announcement today which may seem small now, but will cast a bigger shadow as we approach the spooky season of October, which marks the end of support for Windows 10.
"Final Fantasy 14 support for Windows 10 will end on October 14, 2025," an official blog post says. "Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running Windows 10 after October 14, 2025, so we have found that continuing support for this operating system is a difficult proposition."
Your PC won't just shut down if you've yet to update to Windows 11 by October 14, 2025, but it will make it very vulnerable to security risks or malware. For this reason, most applications and games alike will require users to be on Windows 11 to run programs. Something that Square Enix is trying to warn Final Fantasy 14 players of well ahead of time.
"You will likely be able to play Final Fantasy 14 on Windows 10 systems even after the end of support," the blog continues. "However, after we discontinue support, we will, as a general rule, no longer be able to provide support for problems arising as a result of the operating system."
But this isn't to say that those who don't upgrade will just be completely left in the dark. "Square Enix may respond to requests for technical support regarding Windows 10 issues after the end of support, but such informal support will be limited, on a case-by-case basis, and is not guaranteed," the blog post says.
But we're just a few months out from day 0, and there are still a great deal of people who are yet to take the plunge into the latest Windows update. According to a Steam hardware survey last month, 35% of players were still using Windows 10. But that may not be voluntary as there's a contingent of players out there who can't upgrade, even if they wanted to. My partner still has a GTX 1080, which doesn't allow for Windows 11, for example.
Windows 11 only just became the more popular option last month after nearly four years. So it's clear that the majority of users just want to keep on going, same as ever. If you're really passionate about this, then there is a way to extend Windows 10 usage. Microsoft has announced an update to its Extended Security Updates program, which gives users an extra year of Windows 10 updates for a $30 fee. But you'll have to upgrade at some point, and there's no time like the present.
I updated to Windows 11 a couple of years ago during a bout of fatigue and confusion. And while I had a severe adverse reaction to the taskbar being moved from the left side to the centre, I did eventually get over it.
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