The next expansion for the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has been revealed; it’s called FFXIV Evercold and it’s coming January 2027.
The teaser trailer dropped during the FFIXV Fan Fest keynote and showed the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn crossing into a new realm that appears to be freezing over. If you’ve been keeping up with the FFXIV Dawntrail 7.x patch series, you’ll recognize the new character Halmarut and her role in bringing the characters of FFXIV between worlds. This marks the beginning of a new story arc for the MMORPG that’s being called “The Godless Realms Saga.”
For FFXIV players, what you need to know is that we’re going to the Fourth, a new reflection separate from anywhere we’ve been so far. It’s a realm that’s on the verge of freezing over, reminiscent of how The First was taken over by light in Shadowbringers.
With FFXIV Patch 7.5 going live on April 28, its story content will act as the bridge that leads into what’s happening in Evercold (catch up on everything coming to FFXIV 7.5).
The keynote continued with showcasing the concept art and environmental design for the new zones in FFXIV Evercold. This includes imposing architecture and a wide range of biomes, which you can see below.
Along with Evercold and FFXIV 8.0, Square Enix is making fundamental changes to how the core game works and how it’s focusing on “fighting off fatigue.” It’s also looking to modernize itself and teased a new UI; they showed an early mock-up that is subject to change (and it’s very reminiscent of Final Fantasy XVI, which the FFXIV team worked on).
Of course, there will be MSQ dungeons (teased in the artwork above), a new eight-player raid, a new Ultimate, and two new Jobs. While the FFXIV team wasn’t ready to show off the new Jobs, Yoshida confirmed that one will be a Tank and the other a Ranged DPS. FFXIV is getting some fundamental changes to how gear, endgame content, and cosmetics work as well and they’ll coincide with Evercold’s launch.
Perhaps the most surprising reveal, which got a major pop-off from the crowd here at Fan Fest, was the FFXIV x Neon Genesis Evangelion collaboration. It’s the next 24-player Alliance Raid series, called Ghosts of Desire, and will roll out through Evercold’s post-launch patches.
Square Enix also announced that FFXIV is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in August this year, and Yoshida gave a live demo of it running on the system. While you won’t need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, it does require a separate FFXIV subscription to play. Those who already sub to FFXIV on other players will get a 50% discount on their exisiting sub.
I’ll be breaking down the details on how the core of FFXIV is changing with Patch 8.0 in January, and how the new alternate “Evolved Mode” combat system for exisitng Jobs will work. Stay tuned!
Michael Higham is an editor at IGN who regularly contributes with reviews, previews, features, and news in written and video form. He’s usually entrusted with covering long RPGs and tech products, but he’s got range when it comes to games. You’ll also catch him at events and hosting video content, including IGN’s weekly podcast Unlocked.
