Square Enix has confirmed that it has closed its Japanese-hosted servers for a number of titles due to the recent earthquake and nuclear power plant damage in Japan. The move is necessary as the country attempts to conserve what power they have.

The closure will affect the Japanese-hosted servers for Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV, and the PlayOnline services, as well. Customers will not be charged any subscription costs during April.  Kojima’s Twitter feed also confirms that the Metal Gear Online servers would be shut down in an effort to conserve power. Kojima also notes that no timetable has been determined as to when the servers would be up and running again.

It is expected that many other Japanese hosted titles will also be shut down during the need for power conservation. Look for announcements from the region on server service suspensions to continue until the nuclear power plant issues that the country is having are resolved and power is stabilized in the region.