More than 5,000 accounts have been banned from Final Fantasy 14 for real-world trading, while another 800-plus had been booted for advertising this activity.

In a post on the game's website, developer Square Enix said that 5,037 people had been kicked from its long-running MMO for participating in real-money trading and other "prohibited activities". The firm went on to say that another 814 people were kicked for advertising real-money trading in the game.

That sounds like a lot of people, and that's just people banned between February 25th and March 3rd.

"Real money trading (RMT) and other illicit activities upset the balance of the game and, as such, are prohibited under the Terms of Service," Square Enix wrote.

Real-money or real-world trading has long been a blight that has impacted the balance of MMO games, with titles like RuneScape also issuing an automatic ban for anyone found doing this.

Final Fantasy 14 has attracted more than 18 million registered users, as of December 2019. The game initially launched in 2010 but was relaunched in 2013 as A Realm Reborn after the first version of the MMO was met with an overwhelmingly negative response.