Square Enix shared new details for Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold during Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin, including the first new job, a Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy raid series, expanded character customization, and the Nintendo Switch 2 version’s release date.
Evercold, the sixth expansion for Final Fantasy XIV Online, is set to launch in January 2027 and begins the new Godless Realms Saga story arc.
Bastion Joins as a New Tank Job
Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida revealed Bastion, the first new job coming in Evercold.
Bastion is a main tank that fights with two greatshields called skyltborg. Square Enix also released a job trailer showing the class in action, with the Crystal Skyltborg weapon included as part of the digital Collector’s Edition bonuses.
Evercold Adds New Story Structure and Areas
Evercold will change how players move through parts of the main scenario, field content, and game systems. Players will have more freedom to choose which path to complete first, while Auto Content Balancing adjusts dungeon difficulty and enemy levels based on player progress.
New areas include Naglfar, the Realmship of Water; Hringhorni, the Realmship of Fire; and Fargarth, a new city tied to the Fourth.
Square Enix also showed Character Action Skins, a new feature that lets players swap animations for general actions like Teleport and Warp. Future updates will support more action skins, including job actions.
Character creation is also getting expanded with a new color picker, more feature adjustments for areas like eyes and lips, and added makeup options such as eye shadow.
Final Fantasy VII and Evangelion Raids
Yoshida was joined on stage by Final Fantasy VII Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi to announce Beyond the Lifestream, an 8-player raid series based on the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
Square Enix also shared a new teaser for Evangelion – Ghosts of Desire, the previously announced alliance raid series. Director and animator Mahiro Maeda will join that project as a special guest artist and designer.
Switch 2 Version Launches August 4
Final Fantasy XIV launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on August 4, 2026. Pre-orders are now live on the Nintendo eShop.
The Free Trial, Starter Edition, Complete Edition, and Dawntrail will all be available on Switch 2. Square Enix will also offer a roughly one-month free subscription period on the platform to help with server stability.
Other updates announced during the keynote include a Chocobo Companion System overhaul in Patch 8.1, same-region player matching starting with Japan in Patch 7.5x, and Keybound Brawler, a Final Fantasy VII-themed Gold Saucer typing mini-game arriving October 28.
Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.55 launches July 28 with new Occult Crescent content, Phantom Weapons, Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures, and Allied Society quests.
