Final Fantasy 14 fans fear for Alpha the chocobo's safety after he's whisked away by Colonel Sanders in the MMO's latest KFC collab

A screenshot of Colonel Sanders seen in Final Fantasy 14.
(Image credit: Square Enix / KFC Japan)

Final Fantasy 14 fans are in turmoil, and deeply concerned about the safety of the beloved chocobo, Alpha, after he was shown being whisked away by KFC's Colonel Sanders, who may or may not be envisioning him in a bucket. 

The award-winning Final Fantasy MMORPG is soon launching a second collaboration with KFC, which, as Famitsu reports (translated by Google and DeepL), will see the return of the 'Eat fried chicken' emote, as well as the distribution of some Final Fantasy-themed stickers for KFC customers in Japan. On top of that, there'll be a lottery for those who buy the Final Fantasy 14 Collaboration Set meal, with the grand prize being a one-of-a-kind figure of the Colonel himself riding a motorcycle, with Alpha the chocobo in the sidecar.

It's a really cool prize, of course, but the implications of the KFC mascot seemingly making a run for it with the fan-favorite bird in tow are troubling, to say the least, and fans on Twitter have been reacting exactly as you'd expect: "WHERE IS HE TAKING MY SON?"

"ALPHA GET OUT OF THERE!!! HE'S GOING TO COOK YOU!!!" another fan desperately screams into the void.

"NO ALPHA!!! THAT MAN IS DANGEROUS!!!! GET OUT OF THE SIDECAR AND FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT DON'T GET IN ANY BUCKETS!!!" pleads another. 

Given that there's apparently only going to be one of these figures distributed, it's likely going to be a very hot commodity, even if only to ensure the safety of poor Alpha, who clearly doesn't know what he's getting into. For those in Japan, the Final Fantasy 14 KFC collaboration will be available from June 10 until June 30, and will only be available via online orders.

For more games like Final Fantasy 14, be sure to check out our list of the top 10 best MMORPGs.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

Read more
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail cinematic screenshot showing Alphinaud Leveilleur, an Elezen boy with short white hair
Final Fantasy 14 lead says if the MMO could have any collab, he'd want a League of Legends one: "A crossover with them would be a dream come true"
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Aerith and Tifa suited
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lead asks thirsty PC players to not make "inappropriate" mods after FF16's Clive got swiftly unrobed
Monster Hunter Wilds screenshot showing someone's custom character modelled afdter Final Fantasy 14 producer Yoshi-P
Final Fantasy 14 devs would love to do a Monster Hunter Wilds collab: "There are many fans of the Monster Hunter series within the FF14 team, and I am one of them"
Final Fantasy 16 PS5 screenshot
Yoshi-P and Hiroshi Takai jokingly clash as they react to Clive's lewd Tekken 8 outfit: "You OK'd this?"
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
How to find and catch Piko the chocobo in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail screenshot featuring character Y'shtola Rhul, a Miqo'te woman with white hair framing her face and cat-like ears
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail helped players block stalkers, but the problem might get much worse with a backend exploit some mods are already taking advantage of
Latest in Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail cinematic screenshot showing Alphinaud Leveilleur, an Elezen boy with short white hair
Final Fantasy 14's funniest speedrunning beef continues as runner who lost a world record to its original champ in just 1 day returns, beats record, is promptly dethroned again
Final Fantasy 7
Sony finally managed to pry Final Fantasy 7 away from Nintendo thanks to a "schmoozer" of a former employee who hung out with Square Enix executives at his parties, according to one former PlayStation boss
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition
Square Enix kills Final Fantasy game's mobile version after being unable to "completely fix" a bug stopping fans from accessing their additional paid content
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
Final Fantasy creator says the original JRPG's programmer was "like a god" to him: "I still strongly feel that the core program itself is the ‘life’ of a game"
Final Fantasy 14 producer Yoshi-P interview's the series' founding father Hironobu Sakaguchi
After 3 years of playing Final Fantasy 14 "almost every single day," series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi reckons the MMO "might be the game that I've played the most in my life"
Final Fantasy 14 patch 6.4 The Dark Throne
As the Final Fantasy 14 devs "continue to take a firm stance" against mods that can enable harassment, Yoshi-P says improvements are starting in patch 7.2
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2