March 27, 2019 The Final Fantasy X update that prevented the game from being played offline has been removed.
Square Enix says that it’s removed an update that players reported was preventing them from playing Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster on Steam in offline environments. A statement issued earlier today says that the developer has “removed the latest update with immediate effect, and you can now continue to experience the game as before.”
The patch is likely to return in some form or another, but Square appears to show that its results weren’t intentional. The company says that “a new version of the patch will be available in the new future.”
On March 7, a new update launched for the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster collection on Steam – the first update since this version of the game launched nearly three years ago. The official announcement said the update was about “fixing some minor bugs,” but the only change players seemed to note is that it was no longer possible to play offline.
That was reported around various communities as ‘Square Enix added always-online DRM to FFX,’ but right now that’s unverified – and unlikely. As game modding wizard Durante notes on ResetEra, it was likely a bug. The game’s been hit with an expanding set of negative Steam reviews since the update launched and word of the changes spread, but players seem happy that the issue has been rectified.
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We still don’t know what the update was intended to solve – the patch notes are incredibly vague – or why it launched so much later than the game itself. But at least it’s now possible to play offline again.