Starting with Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix began moving their online games off the service as membership declined.

[4] PlayOnline opened on June 6, 2000, to both Japanese and English speaking countries with news about upcoming software titles, interviews, and wallpapers.

[5] The site's merchandise included pieces from Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Chocobo Racing, Front Mission, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy.

[11] After negotiation, Xbox 360 players were able to play the game through PlayOnline's servers exclusively, despite Microsoft's initial wish that Square Enix would use its own platform.

[13] On April 9, 2005, a distributed denial of service attack against PlayOnline's servers shut down Final Fantasy XI access for players in North America and Europe for three hours: the attack continued for over a week, leading Square Enix to involve law enforcement.

[15] After Japan's 2011 earthquake, Square Enix disabled servers to conserve energy due to the incapacitated state of the region's nuclear power plant.

This led to a temporary halt of the Final Fantasy XIV, XI and PlayOnline games and services from March 13 to 25.

[16][17] During the power shortage, air conditioning and lighting was reduced, and the subscription fees for Final Fantasy XI were waived for the month of April.

[17] In June 2009, Square Enix decided not to use PlayOnline for Final Fantasy XIV due to the marked decrease of content on the service.

[24] In June 2009, a San Francisco resident sued Square Enix for "deceptive advertising, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment" from Final Fantasy XI, and sought a $5 million settlement.