Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold Delayed to 23 February 2027

Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold, the MMORPG's next expansion, will launch on Tuesday 23 February 2027, Square Enix announced at the Fan Festival 2026 keynote in Tokyo on 31 October. That is about a month later than the January 2027 window Square Enix had given before. Players who pre-order get early access from Friday 19 February at 09:00 UTC (4:00 am ET, 1:00 am PST). Pre-orders open on Wednesday 4 November.

Producer and director Naoki Yoshida also revealed Evercold's second new job, Zephyr, at the keynote. Zephyr is a physical ranged DPS job that fights with a crossbow, joining the tank job Bastion, which was announced earlier. The Lodestone release date post doesn't give a reason for the move, and Square Enix hasn't given a time for the full launch on 23 February.

Evercold key dates

What Evercold adds

According to Square Enix's official Evercold site, the expansion sends the Warrior of Light to the Fourth, a reflection of the world "lost to ice". Most of the new areas sit aboard the Fourth's huge airships, called Realmships, including Naglfar, Hringhorni, Sessrymnir and Skiðblaðnir.

• Two new jobs: Bastion, a main tank with the Skyltborg weapon, and Zephyr, a crossbow user. Both can only be played in the new Evolved combat mode.

• Level cap 110: up from 100, with new cities Fargarth and Hjartadunur.

• New raids: an EVANGELION alliance raid series, Ghosts of Desire, and a Final Fantasy VII raid series, Beyond the Lifestream.

• A new Fierce difficulty: eight-player raids get a tier between Normal and Savage, and alliance raids are split into two halves.

• Seasons and a new battle system: Seasons is a redesigned way to earn rewards and raise item level, and players can switch between Reborn Mode, based on today's combat, and Evolved Mode, which Square Enix says highlights each job's identity.

Confirmed and not confirmed

Confirmed: the 23 February launch, early access on 19 February, pre-orders on 4 November, Zephyr and Bastion, and a level cap of 110. Square Enix's site also says some changes, including the new combat system and housing updates, will reach players who don't buy Evercold.

Not confirmed: Evercold's prices. The official site lists a Standard Edition, a Digital Collector's Edition and physical collector's options, but no prices before pre-orders open. For reference, Final Fantasy XIV Online currently costs $19.99 on Steam (₹719 in India), and the game needs a subscription after the free trial.

Final Fantasy XIV is on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC. For a big download in February, see our guides to fixing a stuck PS5 download and moving Steam games to another drive, and our PlayStation 5 console page and Switch 2 page for hardware details.

In India, early access starts at 2:30 pm IST on 19 February; Evercold's INR price is not announced yet.