For anyone having the same issue as me, this is my response from SQEX:

Thank you for contacting the Square Enix Support Centre.


We are sorry to hear that you are having issues with the game.

Please try redownloading the launcher. You can do so here: http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/playersdownload/eu

Please also try switching off your firewall and antivirus software and adding the game to the exceptions in these programs. In the case of Bullguard Antivirus, you may need to remove it entirely, however you can try the following configuration in Bullguard first:
o Open Bullguard
o Click settings, from the top.
o Click Browsing, from the left.
o Uncheck all of the box?s except ?scan web traffic?

You can also try renaming the settings folder. This can be found in My Documents/My Games and will be called "Final Fantasy XIV - A Realm Reborn".

Ensure all of the game?s executable files have administrator rights. There will be ".exe" files located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Square Enix\Final Fantasy XIV - A Ream Reborn\Boot. For each of these files you should do the following:
o Right-click on the file and select properties.
o Select the compatibility tab.
o Tick the 'run as administrator box'
o Click on ok.

You can also try creating a new Windows User account and running the game on there.

Moreover, if you have the software Savings Bull installed on your machine, we would ask you to remove it completely since it has been known to cause issues with the update.

We hope that these solutions will resolve the issue for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us again should the issue persist.


Kind regards,

The Square Enix Support Centre team