This weekend’s Final Fantasy XIV fan festival kicked off, as expected, with a keynote address focused mainly on news about the upcoming expansion, Endwalker. But while details about new jobs, zones, collector’s editions, and the release date are all welcome, there was one particularly exciting piece of news for those of us playing in Australia and New Zealand: Final Fantasy XIV is getting an Oceania data centre, opening alongside the new expansion’s launch on November 23.
Until now, Oceanic players have been split between North American and Japanese servers. That means higher latency, and while overall performance has improved over the years, it’s still a less than ideal situation. Having a local data centre should improve things considerably, and also help bring players from similar time zones together in one place.
Beyond that, the live letter also shared various details about the Endwalker expansion. Alongside the previously-announced Sage, the second new job is the Reaper, a melee damage dealer who fights with a scythe and “call upon an avatar from the void to join in a battle”. New zones include Old Sharlayan, which will serve as the new player hub; Labyrinthos, an underground paradise lit by an artificial sun; Thavnair, which looks like it draws a lot of inspiration from India; the ruins of Garlemald; and Mare Lamentorum, one of a few new areas on the moon.
The Magus Sisters will return as a new boss fight in Endwalker, playing “a completely original role” and with a rather different look to their Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy X appearances. Square Enix also teased the next alliance raid series, Myths of the Realm, with a piece of concept art showing a giant stone ring adorned in mystical-looking symbols, and revealed male Viera as a new race option.
The big announcement (aside from the data centre news), is the release date: Endwalker will launch on November 23, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. There’s a Collector’s Edition on the way, including a Paladin statue, a Loporrit mini-plush, an Azem pin, an art collection, and a special box. In game items—available with both the Collector’s Edition and the Digital Collector’s Edition—include the wind-up Porom minion, Arion mount, and Death Scythe weapon, while pre-orders of any version come with the wind-up Palom minion, Menphina Earrings, and early access from November 19.
