During Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin, Square Enix revealed new details about the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold expansion, including a Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy raid series, the new Bastion job, and much more. Square Enix also announced that the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy XIV will launch on August 4, months ahead of the Evercold expansion’s launch in January 2027.
An extended teaser trailer for Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold was revealed to give players a sneak peek into the world of the Fourth and the start of the Godless Realms Saga story arc. The areas shown in the trailer include Naglfar, the Realmship of Water; Hringhorni, the Realmship of Fire; and Fargarth, a new city. A trailer for the Bastion tank job was also revealed. The Bastion job involves the use of greatshields known as skyltborg.
According to producer Naoki Yoshida, there will be major changes and new features in the Evercold expansion, including main scenario, field, and game-system related updates. Players can expect more freedom in choosing what area they want to complete first in various paths in the main scenario. In addition, Auto Content Balancing ensures difficulty scaling and enemy levels will adjust according to the appropriate player level as they play dungeons in their chosen order.
The new Character Action Skins feature will let players assign alternate animations to personalize existing General actions, such as Teleport and Warp, with support for additional skins such as job actions arriving in future updates. There will also be new features for character customization, including a greater range of color options with the new color picker, the ability to fine-tune features such as eyes and lips, new elements such as eye shadow, and more.
A new teaser trailer for the EVANGELION – Ghosts of Desire alliance raid series was also revealed. Acclaimed director and animator Mahiro Maeda is joining the project as a special guest artist and designer, following up on his work from EVANGELION:3.0 +1.0 THRICE UPON A TIME (2021). Afterward, Final Fantasy VII Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi joined the stage in Berlin to reveal Beyond the Lifestream, a new 8-player raid series being worked on by the development teams of the remake series and Final Fantasy XIV.
New updates and features for the near future were also teased. Same-region player matching will be introduced in the Patch 7.5x series, starting with Japan in mid-October, followed by North America and Europe at a later date. Keybound Brawler, a Final Fantasy VII-themed typing mini-game, will be added to the Gold Saucer on October 28. Starting with Patch 8.1, there will be major updates to chocobo companions, including an overhaul of the raising system and the ability to call chocobos to assist you in dungeons.
Yoshida also revealed the Evercold Collector’s Bundle, which includes a collection of physical items: the Evercold Special Art Box, Expertly Crafted Reaper Figure, Ethos Metal Keychain, Köttr Mini Plush, and Tapestry of the Fourth. Also included is the digital Collector’s Edition, featuring three in-game items: the Crystal Skyltborg bastion weapon, Vallhallar Odin mount, and Entreat Crystal emote. Pre-orders will open at a later date.
Final Fantasy XIV will launch on August 4 for Nintendo Switch 2, and pre-orders are now available in the Nintendo eShop. There will be a one-month free subscription period on Nintendo Switch 2 to ensure server stability, and a Nintendo Switch Online membership is not required to play Final Fantasy XIV. Afterward, players must purchase a dedicated Final Fantasy XIV subscription for the game’s Switch 2 version. This subscription will be 50% off to all active subscribers of Final Fantasy XIV on other platforms.
Here’s a pricing breakdown (expansions require base game purchase):
- Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition – $19.99
- Final Fantasy XIV Complete Edition – $59.99 (discounted down to $41.99)
- Final Fantasy XIV Complete Collector’s Edition – $139.99 (discounted down to $97.99)
- Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Expansion – $39.99
- Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Collector’s Edition- $59.99
The events of Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.5 Trail to the Heavens will set up the path to Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold. Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.5 launched on April 28 and kicked off a series of updates featuring the Beastmaster job, new main scenario quests, a new dungeon, the final instalment of the Echoes of Vana’diel alliance raid series, and so much more.
