Quote Originally Posted by Scribble View Post
SE will keep FFXI running as long as it makes them money; they're a business remember. The day SE considers shutting down XI is the day that they don't have enough subscriptions to cover the costs of server upkeep and maintenance.

When KFC started selling the ever popular extra-crispy chocobo they didn't just stop offering original recipe. As long as the revenue coming in from demand exceeds the costs to produce a product or offer a service, they will continue to offer it.
This isn't exactly true as they could figure they could put the people who are doing the upkeep on ffxi on a MORE profitable project and shut it down for that reason.