Hundreds of players attend funeral procession in online game Final Fantasy after coronavirus kills their gamer friend
- Friends of the character known as Ferne Le’roy organised the funeral procession
- The mourners gathered in the desert city of Ul’dah on the game’s Zalera server
- The procession began in the middle of the night and crossed different lands
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Hundreds of players have attended a funeral procession in the online game Final Fantasy after coronavirus killed one of their gamers.
Friends of the character known as Ferne Le’roy organised the funeral after his human player died from the virus.
Following a discussion on Reddit, Ferne’s Final Fantasy group decided to honour the player, with mourners gathering in the desert city of Ul’dah on the game’s Zalera server.
Hundreds of players have attended a funeral procession in the online game Final Fantasy after coronavirus killed one of their main players
Final Fantasy is a Japanese science-fantasy franchise that centres on a series of role-playing video games. It is one of the best-selling video-game franchises in the industry.
The players were also joined by those who knew Ferne’s player as an alternate character – Poppy Rose – on the Coeur server.
The group, which looked to have been in the hundreds, was dressed primarily in funeral-appropriate black.
Following a discussion on Reddit, Ferne’s Final Fantasy group decided to honour the player, with mourners gathering in the desert city of Ul’dah on the game’s Zalera server
The procession began in the middle of the night and crossed different lands as the sun came up, including the forested regions of the Central Shroud, to the north of the desert. The journey took around half an hour.
The procession ended under the Guardian Tree, a holy site within the woods.
The game’s Twitter community took to social media to express their shock at how many joined the procession.
One wrote: ‘The #FFXIV community never ceases to amaze me. Such a huge turnout and show of respect, community and camaraderie at this memorial service. My view distance couldn’t handle so many people! May the fallen player rest in peace, my condolences to all involved. Be safe, everybody!’
The group, which looked to have been in the hundreds, was dressed primarily in funeral-appropriate black
Another said: ‘This was my first time experiencing something like this. There were people attending that took up 2-3 zones of the base game which are large in general. So many showed up to give their condolences to their fellow adventurer, their friends and families.’
The Final Fantasy funeral procession comes roughly one month after a group of Japanese school children held their graduation ceremony in Minecraft after coronavirus concerns resulted in the cancelation of the on-campus ceremony.