Square Enix has announced that the fourth expansion pack for its highly acclaimed MMO, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, will be arriving on 7 December 2021, with early access beginning on 3 December.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida discussed the new release date during the latest Letter from the Producer LIVE broadcast, and provided the below statement regarding the reasons for the change:
We sincerely apologize for postponing the release at the last minute on this occasion. FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker is both the latest expansion pack for the game and the one that will conclude the Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga spanning 11 years since the launch of the original FFXIV.
We will of course deliver a new adventure in FFXIV to follow on from Endwalker but, with the various struggles we experienced from the failure of the original FFXIV leading up to where we are now, I just couldn’t contain my desire to perfect Endwalker to the best of my ability. As a result, the time we spent on quality improvement exceeded our expectations and we ended up using our time allotted for debugging. On the other hand, as stability is crucial for an online game, I have taken the decision to postpone the release of the expansion pack for two weeks in order to resecure the time for debugging that would arise as we wrap up development.
Once more, I’d like to convey my deepest apologies to all of our Warriors of Light and partners for the inconvenience this has caused. We will continue to do our utmost to bring you the best adventure in Endwalker and to expand the game experience through further updates that will follow, in order to restore your trust step by step.
A more detailed message from Yoshida to the community can be read HERE.
Yoshida also debuted the Endwalker Launch Trailer and a teaser for the Endwalker theme song music video.
A ton of new content will be arriving with Endwalker with a few updates given by Yoshida below.
- Crafter and Gatherer Updates – New crafting and gathering actions will be added along with adjustments for existing actions. Additionally, Studium Deliveries, which are similar to Crystarium Deliveries, will be added for Disciples of the Hand and Land to experience, with extra quests available upon completing all of the new questlines.
- New Role Quests – Players can look forward to a new series of role quests for tank, healer, melee DPS, physical ranged DPS, and magical ranged DPS. Players who complete all five role questlines can look forward to extra quests in a future patch update.
- New Raids – Yoshida offered a first look at the Pandæmonium raid during the broadcast. Normal and Savage difficulties will be available for players to challenge in the forthcoming 6.01 and 6.05 patch updates respectively.
- New Treasure Hunt Dungeon – A new treasure hunt dungeon, The Excitatron 6000, will arrive with Patch 6.05 and offer new chances at rare treasure and spoils.
- New Housing Area – The Ishgardian housing area, Empyreum, will be available to visit beginning at the launch of Endwalker, with plots becoming available for purchase with the release of Patch 6.1.
- Expansive System Updates – New Allagan tomestones, crafter and gatherer scrips, updates to the achievement UI, and more will also be added with the upcoming patch updates.
There will also be updated PvP content in Patch 6.1, including a new content titled “Crystal Conflict” that will provide an all-new ruleset and gameplay experience on new maps, as well as new systems that can be enjoyed by both casual and competitive players.
- 5v5 Competition – “Crystal Conflict” will introduce 5v5 team gameplay and an updated matching system that will pair players of similar skill levels together.
- Exciting PvP Gameplay – Players will fight for control of a crystal in the middle of the arena as they work to keep control of it long enough for it to be pushed into the opposing team’s goal. Crystal Conflict will feature three playable match types depending on play preference: Casual Match, Ranked Match and Custom Match.
- Ranked Seasons – PvP seasons will be available through Crystal Conflict, offering rewards for those who participate and climb the rankings. Additionally, a new “Series Level” feature allows players to gain rewards such as mounts and equipment simply by participating in PvP matches and earning rewards by raising their Series EXP
Players can look forward to the new upcoming content based on the below patch schedule:
- December 3, 2021 – Early Access
- December 7, 2021 – 6.0 Launch
- December 21, 2021 – Patch 6.01
- January 4, 2022 – Patch 6.05
Finally, Final Fantasy XIV Online continues to grow on a global scale, with the upcoming Oceania Data Center scheduled to release in February 2022. It was confirmed during the broadcast that Worlds on the Oceania Data Center will be classified under the “New World” status and provide various bonuses for new players and those who transfer existing characters to those Worlds, including free character transfers during a limited period. Details can be found HERE.
