Today, during a pane at PAX East, Square Enix announced the release date of the next expansion Dawntrail.
Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida announced that early access will start on June 28, 2024, while release will come on July 2. Funnily, we hear that the intention was for the early access to start one week earlier, but then the developers decided to give players some time to play the Elden Ring DLC.
Pre-orders start next week on March 26 at 9 a.m. JST, GMT, and PDT depending on your region. Steam will have a single pre-order time at 9:00 a.m. PDT.
The Collector's Edition will include a figure portraying the Viper job, a cloth map, a Unending Journey journal, a vintage-style pen case, and a collector's box illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano.
You can find a gallery with pictures of all the items below.
The digital collector's edition will include a new mount which is basically a mecha that transforms into an airship called ARK (which you can see in action in a video within the official recording of the livestream), a Garnet minion from Final Fantasy 9, and the Chocobo Brush cosmetic weapon.
Below you can see a list of all the editions available. Interestingly, the Collector's Box for the console versions will include only the physical items. You'll have to buy it in addition to the standard edition or the Digital Collector's Edition.
The standard edition is digital-only and there won't be a physical disk for any edition.
If you pre-order the game you receive the Zidane Minion and the Azeyma's Earrings, which will boost your experience by 30% up to level 90. On top of that, you'll get the early access as well.
Below you can find the new system requirements.
For players on Mac, here are the system requirements.
We also learn that the crossover event with Final Fantasy XVI (which received its own panel with information on the next DLC yesterday) will happen between April 2 and May 8.
In April there will be a Letter from the Producer Live broadcast showcasing the graphics update coming with the expansion with actual gameplay footage.
Yoshida-san revealed that the challenge for Final Fantasy XIV starting with Dawntrail is to "evolve even further as an MMORPG."
This includes refined multiplayer gameplay, more large-scale duties in the same vein as Eureka or Bosja, a more fulfilling gaming experience, and improved rewards.
This doesn't mean neglecting solo content. The multiplayer content will be developed in parallel with solo content like Variant Dungeons.
The focus on a more fulfilling gaming experience means adding some excitement to the game. This doesn't mean making the life of players difficult, but bringing some unique and original elements to battles beyond the usual mechanics.
The developers want to encourage players to think about strategies and take risks in developing the content. They don't want the game to feel mundane. This doesn't mean revolutioning the jobs, but the focus will be on the content itself.
Yoshida-san also explained the goal of increasing the amount of rewards players will receive: plans for this are already in place and the objective is to have about 1.5 times the current amount by patch 7.3-ish.
He then mentioned that the developers are also looking at the long-term, deciding what the game will look like 10 or 20 years from now, after 8.0.
Incidentally, below you get to see the number of registered accounts for each expansion, all the way to the 30 million announced at the latest Fan Festival in Tokyo.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently available on PC, PS5, PS4, PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Mac. If you'd like to jump on the bandwagon before the expansion hits, you can purchase a copy on Amazon.
If you're interested in Dawntrail, you can read a lot of recent details from the latest Fan Festival in Tokyo.
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