Everything Announced At Final Fantasy 14's NA FanFest

For Final Fantasy 14 fans, these next couple of days are going to be pretty massive. We're finally getting Patch 7.5 next week, bringing an end to Dawntrail and the long wait for the next expansion.

On top of that, the first FanFest of the year is in full swing, and has already delivered us some crucial news regarding what we can expect from the game going forward. Here's everything that was announced during this FanFest's keynote:

This article will be updated as new announcements are made.

Final Fantasy 14's Next Expansion Is Called Evercold, Coming January 2027

First off, we got the official name of the game's next expansion, which will be titled Evercold. It's seemingly taking us to another shard, one that has been taken over by ice, and it will at least feature Alphinaud, Estinien, and our Warriors of Light. Not only that, but it has been announced that it will be launching in January 2027.

Evercold Will Completely Overhaul Adventurer UI

We then got a lot of updates about the game, starting with a completely different UI being called the "Adventurer Activity" UI that will help transfer the game from a daily progression system to a weekly one. Yoshi-P says that pretty much everything can be done on this one screen, but it's still early in development and will almost definitely change before the full release.

One of the ways the game is shifting to a weekly schedule is with Activity Points, which you'll be given by doing various activities and quests, each one giving you a varying different amount of points. On top of that, we'll also be able to go back and earn last week's rewards as long as the current weeks are complete.

ILvl Is Being Overhauled

Yoshi-P then explains that Final Fantasy 14 is getting a few new ways to increase ILVL, arguing that the only ways to do so are to acquire gear from savage raids. He argues that this creates a "content gap" in odd numbered patches, and that this is something they want to fix. Unfortunately, more details weren't provided, and more news will come during Tokyo's FanFest.

Final Fantasy 14 Will Be Getting A Seasonal Structure

Yoshi-P goes on to explain that a new seasonal system will be coming in, but reassures us that there will be no extra charges, and that we won't have to pay for Season Passes. Instead, this is referring to how patches work, as two combined patches will now be referred to as a single season. For example, Evercold's 8.0 and the patch after (8.1), will be referred to as a single season. He then ends this section by explaining that the team will try to reduce patch wait times.

The Armory System Is Getting Overhauled Too

Next up, Yoshi-P discusses the game's Armorey System, claiming that it's rarely been touched since the game's inception. However, starting in Evercold, players will no longer have to painstakingly grind for gear for all their jobs, as they'll be allowed to reflect their highest Ilvl onto other jobs. You'll still have to level jobs individually, but when it comes to gear, it's becoming much easier to gear up jobs.

This doesn't apply to stat boosts given by materia, so if you want to really hone in on one job, you can do that, but when it comes to standard gearing, you'll be able to switch jobs much easier.

Character Action Skins Have Been Announced

A smaller update now, as Yoshi-P announces that character action skins are being added, which will be specific animations that can be unlocked which will change the animations of certain skills to give you extra customization.

Final Fantasy 14 Is Getting Improved Character Customization

In a massive update, Yoshi-P has revealed that, thanks to Final Fantasy 14's graphical update, the game will be getting enhanced character customization. We don't know all the features coming, but a big one will be a color picker for hair, eyes, and skin tones, letting you pick from many new different colors, and enhance customization.

We'll also be getting improved eye and lip customization, as well as improved eye shadow and face paint layering. We'll also be able to toggle parts of gear that are visible and parts that aren't, including shoulder pads, belts, and more. Character customization will also be further improved in post 8.0 patches.

Final Fantasy 14's Content Is Evolving

We then move onto actual content, and Yoshi-P begins by explaining that he wants to improve public fields by adding more content and making them feel more alive, and less lonely. At the same time, it was also announced that a way to make questing less troublesome is also being worked on, but more details will be revealed in Berlin.

As for battle content, it was revealed that Evercold will be introducing a new tier for 8-man raids, one that is between Normal and Savage. It has been hinted that this will have its own rewards, and Yoshi-P wants to shore up the completion rate gap between Normal and Savage.

Alliance Raids were also mentioned, with Yoshi-P admitting that the raids themselves can be time-consuming, but there are no plans to shorten them. Instead, ways to make them more profitable are being worked on, though more details will be revealed in Tokyo.

Final Fantasy 14 Is Finally Getting Same-Region Player Matching

One of the bigger announcements made was the addition of same-region player matching, allowing players from all worlds in a certain region to match together. It will massively increase the number of players you can connect with, and to make things even better, this will also apply to Party Finder as well.

And thankfully, we don't have to wait until 8.0 for this. It was announced that same-region player matching will happen just the Patch 7.5x series, with a stress test set to happen pretty soon.

Evercold Will Get Two New Jobs

It was then confirmed that Evercold will introduce two new jobs, rather than the one that people feared. It was also confirmed that these will be a Tank and a Physical Ranged, and that they'll be FF14-specific jobs, rather than legacy jobs from other Final Fantasy games. No more details were given, but they did promise the first job would be announced in Berlin.

Reborn And Evolved Job Modes Are Coming

Next up, it was revealed that the job system will be getting a new system — Reborn and Evolved. We'll start off with Reborn Mode, which will stick with the current systems, and everything will work how you're currently used to. I guess it's something for people that hate change. It will be available for all existing jobs, and all the jobs will be updated as per usual.

As for Evolved mode, which will also be available for all existing jobs. However, this mode will introduce completely new rotations, which will have far fewer inputs. Yoshi-P is quick to explain that this is not a simplified version of Reborn Mode, and that players should consider them two different versions of the same job.

You'll be able to toggle between these two modes at any time when you're outside of battle, and job level and gear is shared, so there's no need to worry on that front. Evolved mode will unlock when you unlock a job, and all content is clearable with both modes. It was also confirmed that all future jobs will only have an Evolved Mode.

Additional Updates

We then got some rapid fire updates, which are as follows:

• We're getting a level cap increase in Evercold, going from 100 to 110.
• New dungeons, raids, treasure hunts, and gear will be added in Evercold
• There will be a new raid series, though the theme will be revealed in Berlin
• There will also be a new Ultimate in 8.0
• A new alliance raid will also be added, and it will be themed around Evangelion. Yes, you read that right.

Dawntrail's Next Ultimate Was Finally Revealed

Yoshi-P lifted the lid on the game's next Ultimate Raid, which will be called Dancing Mad, and will see us throw down with Kefka again. We got a brief clip of the fight, though not a lot was shown as they didn't want to spoil it. What we do know is that the Kefka model has been designed by the original Kefka designer. It was then mentioned that Kefka will be dropping in 7.51.

Final Fantasy 14's Free Trial Is Being Expanded

Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMO RPG with a free trial up to... Shadowbringers? Yes, the game's free trial is finally being expanded, with new players now able to play for free all the way up to Shadowbringers now, which will kick in upon the release of Patch 7.5.

Patch 7.5x's Timeline Has Been Revealed

Finally, we got a nice timeline of when we can expect stuff to drop in the Patch 7.5x series. Of course, we have Patch 7.5 coming next week, with Patch 7.51 announced to be coming on June 2. Then we have the FanFest in Berlin to come, which will take place on July 27, with Patch 7.5 dropping a day later. Patch 7.6 will then drop on September 8, with Tokyo FanFest to follow on October 31.

Final Fantasy 14 Is Finally Coming To Nintendo Switch 2

It was revealed that Final Fantasy 14 will be coming to another system, that being the Nintendo Switch 2. It will be coming to the system at some point in August, with an early access period of a month to take place in order to make sure the game's servers can handle it.

Unfortunately, it was also confirmed that you will need a separate subscription to play the game on Nintendo Switch 2, but thankfully, you won't need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription at all.