Final Fantasy XIV‘s big climax arrived with Endwalker, but the devs behind the MMO are getting right back to the regular cadence of major updates and patches. Well, mostly. There are some important shifts to the formula coming in the few years leading up to the 7.0 expansion, including a slightly longer wait between updates
Previously, major FFXIV patches were scheduled to launch every three-and-a-half months, barring any major development difficulties forcing a delay. Starting with the 6.X patch series, updates will now be scheduled for release every four months, adding an extra two weeks of wait time between the big patches. The devs say that the two extra weeks are for “implementation” and “fine-tuning”, and you can expect another week’s time added during summer and New Year’s holidays, too.
“Looking at our schedule and how we work, I do want my team to be healthy, and to be able to maintain a good level of quality because they’re taking the necessary breaks,” director and producer Naoki Yoshida says via translator in the latest live letter. “To be honest, there were areas where we might not have performed as well as we should have, because some of us may have been pushing too hard.”
Yoshida also notes that modern FFXIV patches now have dramatically more content than earlier patch series, with more quests, longer cutscenes, and a lot more classes to balance.
With all that in mind, Yoshida says the 6.1 patch is currently scheduled to land in April. Here’s our rough estimate of when each of the 6.X patch series would launch, following the new schedule, as well as the official plans for each patch series.
FFXIV 2022-2023 roadmap
- Patch 6.1 – April 2022
- New main Scenario questline – Patch 6.1 – 6.5
- “Somehow further Hildibrand adventures” – Patch 6.1 – 6.5
- “Tataru’s Grand Endeavor” sidequest series – Patch 6.1 – 6.5
- Myths of the Realm #1 (Alliance Raid)
- Crystalline Conflict (new PvP)
- Arkasodara tribe quests and dailies
- Dragonsong’s Reprise (new Ultimate duty)
- Ultima’s Bane (Unreal)
- Trust support for A Realm Reborn (Patch 2.0) main scenario dungeons
- New calling card-style UI (Name TBD)
- New hairstyles for Hrothgar
- Empyreum (Ishgard housing)
- Custom Deliveries: Ameliance
- Plus, new Trials and other assorted updates…
- Patch 6.2 – August/September 2022
- Trust support for A Realm Reborn 2.X main scenario dungeons
- Trust support for 2-3 Heavensward main scenario dungeons
- New weapon enhancements
- New “Criterion” dungeon with variable difficulty (for 1–4 Players)
- “Island Sanctuary” debuts
- Plus Pandæmonium, Faux Hollows, other Trials, and more…
- Patch 6.3 – December 2022/January 2023
- Trust system for remaining Heavensward main scenario dungeons
- Deep Dungeon series #3
- Ultimate duty #5
- Island Sanctuary updates
- Plus Myths of the Realm, Faux Hollows, other Trials, and more…
- Patch 6.4 – April/May 2023
- Patch 6.5 – August/September 2023
- Trust system for Stormblood main scenario dungeons
- “Criterion” dungeons #2 & #3
- Additional area for Island Sanctuary
- Plus the conclusion to Pandæmonium, further Myths of the Realm, Faux Hollows, other Trials, and more…
- “More plans” in the works for both 6.4 and 6.5
This live letter also brought us news on FFXIV’s big graphical update and confirmation that the game’s getting “no NFTs”. Whew.