Square Enix unveiled a massive roadmap for Final Fantasy XIV during its recent Fan Fest keynote, headlined by the announcement of the next major expansion, 'Evercold.'
According to kotaku.com, the expansion is scheduled to launch in January 2027 and will mark the beginning of the game's first new saga in its 13-year history.
Director Naoki Yoshida, known as Yoshi-P, revealed a series of significant quality-of-life updates and system overhauls designed to streamline the player experience. One major change includes a new job system where players can toggle between 'Reborn Mode' and 'Evolved Mode' for the game's 21 existing jobs.
'Evolved Mode is a rework of these actions, introducing different rotations that require fewer inputs,' the report noted.
Major platform and connectivity changes
Square Enix is also removing regional data center boundaries, allowing players to interact across all North American data centers, such as the Crystal server, via the party finder.
For players concerned about hardware, Yoshi-P issued a warning regarding the PlayStation 4. Due to the expanding size of the game, the director joked that PS4 players 'have got two years to save up for a PS5' before the Evercold expansion and patch 8.3 make the game too large for the aging console.
Other notable announcements include the introduction of the Beastmaster job in Patch 7.56, a level cap increase to 110, and a highly anticipated Neon Genesis Evangelion crossover raid series.
To assist players with limited playtime, the developers are also implementing a feature to allow players to claim weekly bonuses from roulettes, moving away from a daily-only requirement. Additionally, a new item level reflection system will allow players to automatically apply their highest item level to all other jobs, reducing the need for repetitive gear grinding.
