The race to world first for the newly introduced Kefka-themed Ultimate raid in Final Fantasy 14 is officially over – but it hasn't finished without controversy.
Every time a new Ultimate raid comes out, a new race to "world first" – in other words, being the first static group in the world to clear – commences, tracked properly over on MogTalk via live streams.
There's always some semblance of drama as the big event comes to its conclusion, like the shenanigans surrounding the Futures Rewritten (Ultimate) race back in 2024… and it always involves third-party tools.
In case you missed it, last time, it all boiled down to the winning team using a plug-in called "Pixel Perfect." Put simply, it shows you where your hitbox is so that you can more easily avoid taking damage. This has happened pretty much every single race, with add-ons causing a huge ruckus. The Dancing Mad (Ultimate) with Kefka was no exception.
The team that cleared, known as "Name TBD" and hailing from Japan, is now under fire.
Basically, Name TBD didn't stream its clear. Instead, it opted to send full step-by-step videos to prove its validity. The static was then announced as the official world first winner, which is what sparked all of the current controversy.
UMAD World First Clear by DN! from r/ffxiv
A look at the game's Reddit discussion shows that folks, as usual, aren't content. "The technical first has gone ON RECORD for cheating in the past," one reads, referencing Name TBD members' old FRU clear.
Others are calling for the first group that cleared on stream, DN, to take the crown. However, not everyone is convinced that the lack of streamed evidence guarantees "cheating," as so many seem to say.
It's arguably a tactical decision. Streaming allows other statics to look at your plays and steal solutions for a quicker kill. Not streaming gives your group an advantage: you can take strats from streamers but hide your own plans.
Here are the progression VODs for "Name TBD" for public review:https://t.co/sJBo1N8SWOThank you @shumai_xivJune 7, 2026
It's… complicated, to say the least, as is always the case. Things aren't looking much better over on X, either, with one person exclaiming, "They didn't stream it, so it doesn't count, it's just that simple." Another adds, "You're just spitting on the efforts of all those teams that actually streamed!"
Elsewhere, somebody replies, "Cheater team, they don't deserve this." So, yeah. It's pretty wild in the Final Fantasy 14 community right now.
Square Enix itself hasn't shared its thoughts on the debacle so far, although it has previously chimed in on world first drama. Perhaps we'll see Yoshi-P respond in some capacity.
I dare not state my own opinion as a hardcore raider myself, but I'll just leave it at this – I wish congratulations upon everyone who managed to tackle the mad clown. It's dubbed "UMAD" by players for a good reason.
