There was good and bad news at Final Fantasy XIV‘s Japan Fan Fest. The bad news was that the MMORPG’s new expansion Evercold has been delayed by about a month. Originally set for sometime in January, the full launch will now arrive on February 23, 2027. The good news is that Evercold now has its third and final teaser trailer, a six minute cinematic that sets up the narrative stakes for Final Fantasy XIV‘s biggest update in nearly three years.
“Tell me about the Promised Land,” a young girl asks early in the trailer. A wise old lady recalls a time of beauty and abundance that gave way to a “relentless ice” as magical beasts took over the mainland. People abandoned the continent for the skies above. The rest of the trailer is pretty much a ton of breathless views of massive city-sized airships (called Realmships) and cool battles showing off new job classes like the tanky Bastion who wields gunshields called Skyltborgs. Something that Square Enix doesn’t get enough credit for in its fantasy world building style is sneaking guns into stuff and making it look elegant and cool as hell.
The trailer also showed off the new DPS class called Zephyr, which wields a cross bow and a neat bird companion. It received its own breakout trailer giving fans a quick lowdown on how it will work. In fact, there were a lot of trailers to come out of the Japan Fan Fest. We got another teaser for the Neon Evangalion crossover event coming in 2027 as well as deep dives into the new locations and other changes coming with version 8.0 in Evercold. It will give players plenty to chew on as they wait a month longer for the full release.
Pre-orders for Evercold open on November 4, 2026 (there’s a trailer for the collector’s edition, too). Those who pay for the pre-order (any edition) will get early access to the expansion starting Friday, February 19, 2027. While a four week delay isn’t a big deal, this does mean that February is now even more packed. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, God of War Laufey, Persona 4 Revival, and Fable all come out within a week of Evercold‘s early access window. Should be fun!
