Final Fantasy XIV’s annual North American Fan Festival showcase kicked off with the announcement of the MMO’s next expansion, Evercold. Following the reveal, Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida explained the upcoming adventure continues a new saga first started by the game’s previous expansion, Dawntrail. The ongoing story arc has officially been named the Godless Realms Saga.
Based on the teaser trailer, Evercold will see the Warrior of Light reunite with old allies to prevent an encroaching ice storm from consuming the Fourth, a new reflection ripe for exploration—so long as it’s not frozen over, that is. Though the team refrained from sharing too much about the upcoming expansion’s story, Yoshida explained next week’s patch 7.5 will set up the events to come.
Yoshida then dived into the various technical changes coming to the game, the most notable being a major UI overhaul and a pivot away from the current daily system in favor of a weekly system. The ultimate goal of these changes is to make Final Fantasy XIV‘s design more character-focused, and give players more freedom. According to Yoshida, the team is eager to ensure the game works with a variety of schedules and meets players where they’re at, regardless of if they’re someone who logs on daily or can only play on weekends.