The original version shut down in November 2012, followed by an alpha test for Version 2.0. This new game, codenamed 'Version 2.0', used a new engine, improved server infrastructure, and revamped gameplay, interface, and story. The new team both continued to develop and improve the original version, and secretly worked on a completely new replacement.
Then-Square Enix President Yoichi Wada announced that a new team, led by Yoshida, would assume control and address the game's flaws.
The original Final Fantasy XIV was a commercial and critical failure. As Eorzea cements its recovery, the player must fend off a reignited invasion from the Garlean Empire. Through temporal magic, the player character of the original version escaped, reappearing at the start of A Realm Reborn. In the Calamity, the elder primal Bahamut escaped from his prison, an ancient space station called Dalamud, unleashing an apocalypse across Eorzea. Final Fantasy XIV is set in the fantasy region of Eorzea, five years after the devastating Seventh Umbral Calamity which ended the original version. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida and released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Windows in August 2013, it replaced the failed 2010 version, with subsequent support for PlayStation 4, OS X, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S. Final Fantasy XIV is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix.
