The recent Final Fantasy XIV showcase announcement finally revealed the upcoming expansion.

Square Enix has revealed the upcoming expansion for Final Fantasy XIV called Endwalker, and it will be launching in Fall 2021. This will be the fifth expansion for the hit MMORPG and is said to be the finale for the Hydaelyn Zodiark story arc that lasted since A Realm Reborn, Game Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida has stated that this will not be the final expansion for FFXIV and more future contents can be expected in the coming years.

The live stream started with the teaser trailer for the expansion showing some hints on what to expect for Endwalker, the first thing to be noticed are the new outfits for the Leveillur twins Alisaei and Alphinaud, and midway through the trailer, we get a glimpse of the new job class from Alphinaud. The new class is called Sage and will be a healer-type job with floating bits that many viewers pointed out as an inspiration from the Gundam mobile suits, the Sage is described as being a barrier healer that will provide additional shield protection to the party. Another new job class was mentioned that is a tank DPS role, but more details will be revealed at a later date.

Aside from the job class, the end of the teaser finally teased fans that the Warrior of Light is on the moon along with the reveal of the expansion name and logo that is hinting that the moon will play a big role. Endwalker’s story will be more complex as Yoshida mentioned, and some characters from previous expansions will make an appearance.

Yoshida provided some information about Endwalker, including an increased level cap to 90. New areas were teased, such as a new city called Radz-At-Han in Thavnair and fans can finally get to explore the region of Garlemald, the country of the Garlean Empire. New beast tribes will be expected in the new expansion, one of them is the Matanga of the Arkasodara tribe.

New areas would also lead to new threats, and one of the revealed new trials will be Anima, fans would recognize this from Final Fantasy X. The new 8-player normal raid is called Pandemonium and will feature a certain Ascian, but more will be revealed according to Yoshida, the new 24-player Alliance Raid will feature an original story based in Eorzean lore, unlike the previous raids that featured Nier: Automata and the Zodiac Brave Story from FF Tactics and FFXII. The Trust System, that was introduced in Shadowbringers, will be getting an update, you will be able to include Estinien in the party as a Dragoon DPS job. New side quests will be added, including new Role, Crafter and Gatherer quests along with new gear and recipes to collect. Aside from the PvE contents, a new small scale PvP mode will be introduced for a more casual play.

Outside of combat-centric contents, there will be an update on Gold Saucer that will include a new game where everyone can participate like some multiplayer game, a new residential district has been opened in Ishgard for those who are looking to purchase a house in-game. A new feature was introduced, called Island Sanctuary where players can have their own little island to raise animals, harvest and more, which reminds everyone of Animal Crossing.

There will be some changes in the game once the new expansion arrives, and one of them is the adjustment of the battle system, there will be adjustments on the calculations on damage as the large damage numbers are causing bugs and inconveniences in the visuals. But Yoshida assures that the changes will not make the players weak nor the enemies becoming stronger.

Another change is the removal of the belt equipment, starting in the next expansion, all belt times will not be usable and the inventory slots to be distributed evenly on the main weapon slots and ring accessory slots. And finally, the game will have a Data Center Travel feature, previously the Cross World Visit in Shadowbringers allows players to visit other servers of the same Data Center, now the Data Center Travel allows to visit other players from different Data Centers, that are situated in different regions around the world.

More details will be revealed about Endwalker in the Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fan Festival 2021 online event where everyone can watch the show for free. And for those who want to spend for the event, a special mount called the Lunar Whale will be available for purchase, this will be the first 8-seater mount in the game. There will also be FFXIV Fan Fes commemorative in-game items on sale, including Edge, Rosa and Rydia minions.

As the program was about to end, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda makes an appearance to announce Final Fantasy XIV for the PlayStation 5, this version will have 4K resolution support, faster loading time and vastly improved frame rate. Open beta test for the PS5 will start on April 13, for those who already own the registered copy FFXIV on the PS4 will be able to play on the PS5 with no additional cost (monthly subscription still required).

Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker will be available on the PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in Fall 2021.