Dawntrail Release Date Announced PAX East 2024

No convention goes without its hang-ups, whether it be travel, parking, lines, or miscommunication from everything happening. Thanks to very cool t-shirts and bucket hats, it’s unsurprising that the Square Enix booth for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail was a magnet for new and veteran players alike. Getting the shirt required players to take their chances in the Battle Challenge: go against the latest in the eight-player trial, Asura.

I sat at a station with a controller and mouse keyboard from which to choose to play. I was given barely five minutes to pick my job and set up my hot bar with actions before being thrown into the trial, similar to queuing for the in-game daily roulette. The team gets 20 minutes to beat the trial and get the prize.

I spent two days attempting to get in before I got my swing. I successfully beat Asura to get the shirt, which I will happily wear to my day job. The victory was a perfect transition to the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail PAX East panel, in which director Naoki Yoshida revealed new details about the expansion.

Yoshida (better known to the community as “Yoshi-P”) led off with a brief retrospective of Final Fantasy XIV’s history. The retrospective expressed gratitude with good reason: between the game’s reboot ten years ago and the previous expansion, FFXIV has reached an account count of 30,000,000. Yoshi-P was a cordial and lighthearted presenter, even when discussing negative feedback. One particularly fun joke was blaming an early difficulty spike for the canceling of “300,000” accounts.

The look back served as a queue-up for a look into how Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail begins a look forward for the game. Priorities in the future will include refining the multiplayer experience to encourage players to work together. However, Yoshi-P noted that this would not come at the expense of all the work done to refine the solo player experience in recent updates. The refinement of multiplayer will also include more large-scale duties, setting the room off into cheers.

Even more exciting is the long-term vision of development. While Dawntrail is nearing release, the development philosophy also focuses on what FFXIV will look like in ten years. The team does not want to reinvent the wheel or make players start over. Dawntrail and subsequent patches will work to make playing the game more fulfilling. This begins with increasing the rate and quality of rewards for players. Yoshida frames this as a return on investment for players for all the time they’ve been subscribing to the game.

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail also confirmed the release date. Pre-orders can access the game on June 28th, with the full release coming on July 2nd. Pre-orders will open on March 26th. Players will be able to opt in for a Collector’s Edition that includes a transforming mount, minions featuring guest stars from Final Fantasy IX, a new statue of the Viper job in action, and more. This will surely be popular, and Yoshi-P noted he hopes the site doesn’t crash!

Once again speaking to his fun demeanor, Yoshi-P noted that the early access date was planned for a week earlier. That is, until Bandai Namco revealed the release date for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Yoshi-P told the crowd, “I’ll give you one week” to complete the DLC before jumping in.

Between now and then, FFXIV will also get its long-awaited crossover with last year’s Final Fantasy XVI, directed by Naoki Yoshida. The crossover will be live beginning on April 2nd and run until May 8th. Since XVI has still not dropped on PC, the collaboration will avoid plot spoilers.

Before signing off, Yoshi-P shared gratitude again with the audience, crediting them with the success of Final Fantasy XIV. He indicated the team intends to keep the game running and fresh for years. “Until I die” was his final send-off to the crowd. While I would say that I hope Yoshida takes care of himself, it’s also a testament to his commitment to the players who believe in his team.