Square Enix reported last month that Final Fantasy 14 was suffering a DDoS attack on its North American data center. The timing of the attack appeared to coincide with the launch of the Stormblood expansion on June 20, and it was a persistent thing, too: It had been underway for the better part of a week when the report when out. And apparently it's still going on.
"As previously announced, we have confirmed that since mid-June, a third party has been targeting the Final Fantasy 14 game servers on the NA data center. Until now, we have been implementing defensive measures at our own facilities to combat DDoS attacks against our Final Fantasy 14 game servers, and have been able to keep the impact to services at a minimum," Square Enix wrote in an update posted today.
"However, since July the attacks have shifted away from the Final Fantasy 14 game servers and the target has changed to focus on the upper-tier internet service providers (ISPs) that are required to connect to the data center. These attacks to the upper-tier ISP network are causing lapses in communication to the game servers, giving rise to instant disconnects during logins."
Because the attacks are no longer being leveled against Square Enix directly, it can't do anything to defend against them. It has instead been in contact with the upper-tier ISPs in question, who are "taking defensive measures sequentially on their end." So far, so good, but it's possible that the attacks could be renewed, and so Square Enix "will seek to strengthen our cooperation with the upper-tier ISPs and continue observing our defenses."
"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing, and ask for your patience and understanding as we work with the ISPs to provide the maximum defense possible," the company added.
Despite the ongoing trouble, our resident Final Fantasy 14 expert Steven Messner (who really liked Stormblood) said he hasn't experienced any notable problems with the game during the time of the attack, and comments in this Reddit thread about it don't seem terribly bothered overall either. Hopefully this means that Square Enix's response is having an effect—and that those responsible for the DDoS will soon get bored and give up.
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