As Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2026 kicks off in Anaheim, California, Square Enix’s Creative Studio III has announced the long-running MMORPG’s next expansion: Evercold. As promised, Yoshi-P delivered what’s likely the longest keynote he’s given at a Fan Festival, with a ton of information to share. The team confirmed Evercold’s release window of January 2027, which is surprising since release windows for Final Fantasy XIV expansions typically don’t come until the second or even third Fan Festival.
Evercold is the next chapter in Final Fantasy XIV’s second saga, titled The Godless Realms Saga. Players will be visiting the reflection known as The Fourth, which has fallen into ruin and is ravaged by ever-spreading ice. Yoshi-P also revealed a major battle system overhaul launching alongside Evercold, with Reborn and Evolved modes coming to the game. Reborn Mode will be based on the current combat system and job mechanics, while Evolved Mode offers greater emphasis on job identity. Notably, the new jobs introduced in Evercold will only be playable using Evolved Mode. Speaking of new jobs, Evercold is adding two of them: a tank and a physical ranged DPS. Yoshi-P compared it to Street Fighter 6 with its Classic and Modern control schemes.
In terms of broader content, Evercold raises the level cap from 100 to 110 and introduces new cities, distinctive new areas, gigantic constructs and other monstrous threats, new allies, dungeons, trials, a new raid series, a new Ultimate raid, PvP updates, and ongoing content updates including new gear, crafting recipes, and updates to the Duty Support System. Beyond the battle system overhaul, the launch of Evercold and its patch series will introduce expanded design updates including Seasons (an overhaul to how players earn rewards and improve their characters), an Armoury Update to better facilitate playing with multiple jobs, and expanded character customization.
The biggest surprise of the keynote was the EVANGELION – Ghosts of Desire alliance raid series, a crossover with the iconic Japanese anime created in collaboration with khara, Inc., the studio best known for its work on the EVANGELION series. Since EVANGELION’s first television broadcast in 1995, the anime’s mysterious storyline and innovative visual style has had a profound influence on creators around the world, with the franchise expanding into multiple animated films and a comic adaptation. Personally, this is something I never saw coming, but it’s an exciting collaboration that should bring even more attention to the upcoming expansion.
Yoshi-P also detailed the patch schedule leading up to Evercold, with Patch 7.5 launching April 28 with new main scenario quests, a new Trial, and Echoes of Vana’diel Part 3. Patch 7.51 follows on June 2 with a new Cosmic Exploration Star called Auxesia, new Custom Deliveries with Tiisol Ja, and the Dancing Mad (Ultimate) raid. Patch 7.55 launches July 28 with updates to Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures, the debut of Occult Crescent: North Horn, and new Phantom Weapon quests. Patch 7.56 closes out the cycle on September 8 with new main scenario quests and the introduction of Beastmaster.
Square Enix also confirmed that on April 28, the Free Trial will be expanded to include Shadowbringers, the highly praised third expansion. With all content up to Patch 5.58 soon to be included alongside A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood, there has never been a better time for newcomers to join nearly 35 million other registered accounts. Free Trial players can enjoy hundreds of hours of award-winning gameplay equivalent to four full Final Fantasy titles, with no limit on playtime.
Closing out the keynote, Square Enix President and CEO Takashi Kiryu took the stage to officially confirm Final Fantasy XIV is coming to Switch 2 in August 2026. There will be an early access period to test server stability before official service launches. As I’ve said before, Final Fantasy XIV is one of the best games I’ve ever played, so seeing it expand to another platform is a great way to bring more players into Eorzea. The catch is that the Switch 2 version will require a separate subscription from the existing one used on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. The good news is that it does not require a Nintendo Switch Online membership, and if you already have an active Final Fantasy XIV subscription, the Switch 2 version will be 50 percent off. The bad news is that if you want to play across both Switch 2 and any other platform, you’re paying for two separate subscriptions, even at the discounted rate. Yoshi-P’s framing on stage made it pretty clear this wasn’t the structure Square Enix wanted, and that the separate subscription requirement came from Nintendo’s side.
It does feel like Evercold is still going to follow a similar template as previous expansions, in terms of content. Hopefully there’s enough to shake up the formula, or at the very least, give us an enthralling story to get swept up in again. While Dawntrail was always going to be a clear reset following the end of the Hydaelyn vs. Zodiark saga, it’s the first expansion where I didn’t log in immediately after every patch to see the content. I’m excited for Evercold though, as visiting The Fourth might bring back a Shadowbringers-like experience.
