Blizzard’s newest expansion to the sixteen-year-oldWorld of Warcrafthas launched, and as players have begun exploring the new quests, instances, and areas, a competitor has taken the time to offer its own congratulations. Thehighly anticipated expansionShadowlandsarrived today and was met with excitement from the community and the gaming industry.
In a Twitter post on the officialFinal Fantasy 14account, Square Enix congratulatedWorld of Warcrafton the launch ofShadowlands, likely knowing the pressure of releasing a huge new expansion. Accompanying the tweet was a screenshot from the ShadowbringersFF14expansion, which had a similarly dark tone.
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TheWorld of WarcraftTwitter account has responded to the words of encouragement fromFinal Fantasy 14with a warm thank you and a fist bump to show their own appreciation for the post. Fortunately, even though the two games are easily the largest competition for each other, that doesn’t keep them from acknowledging when the other takes a big step forward. However, not every fan was quite as kind, thanks in part to theShadowlandslaunch’s server issuesthat bogged down players attempting to log into the new expansion.
The responses toFinal Fantasy 14’s tweet are decidedly mixed, with fans both supporting each game and condemning either for various reasons. This isn’t entirely unusual for MMOs, whose fans have been with the games for years (or decades) and have a unique relationship with their experience. The Twitter accounts kept things civil at least, with bothWorld of WarcraftandFinal Fantasy 14leaving their comments to simple, PR appropriate responses to each other.
Considering how Blizzard and Square Enix each control two of the largest MMOs available at the moment, it is a pleasant surprise to seeFinal Fantasy 14politely acknowledge the recentlaunch ofShadowlands. It would have been easy for each competitor to simply ignore the other and let the new expansion launch without incident, but Square Enix still saw it best to commend the effort put forward by Blizzard. This may have only been a small gesture, and likely one made to keep the peace between both the developers and the fans, though it is still reassuring that these companies are willing to acknowledge and encourage competition.
