Final Fantasy 14 players in Ukraine are being priced out of the game thanks to currency devaluation from Russia’s ongoing invasion of their home country.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 this year, the cost of subscribing and playing Final Fantasy 14 has gone up drastically. According to a Reddit post from last week (via GamesRadar), the cost of entry for a subscription has gone up from 260 UAH (Ukrainian hryvnia) to around 440 UAH.
The post says this is approximately two to three days work for someone in Ukraine right now, with many losing their jobs and unable to afford the subscription on top of other costs.
“I think I’m not talking only on behalf of myself but from the entire Ukrainian community of Final Fantasy 14,” wrote user ViolenceLord. “We are asking you to make a regional price on subscription at least for the period of war so our people could enjoy your game, and sometimes hide from cruel reality.”
Following this plea to developer Square Enix, Final Fantasy 14 streamer Jessica “Zepla” St. John brought attention to the post. The streamer fled back to her home country of the United States earlier this year, as she was living in Ukraine right before the war began.
In a stream clip on her YouTube channel St. John outlined how Ukrainians are forced to pay the Euro price in the games store, but because the hryvnia has dropped in value drastically users are forced to pay Euro prices with a currency worth a fraction of its former value – meaning the overall cost of subscriptions in Ukraine has skyrocketed.
This can be combated though, for example Blizzard added support for Ukrainian hryvnia and a number of other currencies on May 4 this year on its shop (via Wowhead), meaning players in these regions have had purchases stay at their normal price.
St. John then suggested that Square Enix add hryvnia support to Final Fantasy 14, to make sure players are paying a more appropriate price for subscriptions in the store. “It sucks, this broke my heart to read,” St. John said.
“I can’t imagine, you’re not only worried about losing your real house – you’ve got bombs flying overhead – but now you have to worry that you’re not going to be able to pay for your subscription that you could pay for before, because your currency keeps getting devalued and now you have to worry about losing your house in the game as well, and losing connection to all your friends in the game.”
In other news, Crash Bandicoot 4 and Spyro Reignited Trilogy developer Toys For Bob has teased its next project.
The post Ukrainian ‘Final Fantasy 14’ players can’t afford their subscription due to the war appeared first on NME.
