Final Fantasy 14 reopens logins after nearly 24-hour PHP security lockdown

Square Enix reopened new logins on all Final Fantasy 14 Worlds on October 22 after a security lockdown that kept players out for roughly 21 hours. The studio said in its notice on The Lodestone that "security enhancement work related to the PHP programming language has been completed."

The suspension began on October 21, amid a worldwide scare over serious vulnerabilities in PHP, the server-side programming language that powers large parts of the web. Square Enix never said its own infrastructure had been hit; the lockout reads as a precaution, one instance of a broader disruption that reportedly forced shutdowns across other websites, including the Steam store.

Square Enix apologizes for the lockout

Taking a live MMO dark to new players for nearly a full day is an unusually drastic step, and Square Enix acknowledged the disruption. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused," the company said.

Players who were already logged in were not the only ones affected by the timing. The game's housing system, which automatically demolishes a player's home if they fail to enter it within a set period, was switched off while logins were blocked.

Housing demolition timer resumes October 26

"Following the suspension of new logins, the housing auto-demolition timer has been paused on all Worlds," the official Final Fantasy 14 account posted on X on October 21. "We will monitor developments and assess the situation before announcing when the timer will resume."

The answer came on October 22: The Lodestone notice states the timer will resume on October 26. Homeowners who stayed away during the lockout will want to be back inside their houses before then. Whether players who lost access during the suspension will receive anything beyond the apology has not been announced.

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