Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Release Date, Collector’s Edition, FFXVI Crossover Detailed

At this weekend’s PAX East show, Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida hosted a “Journey to Dawntrail” panel, recapping the first ten years of the acclaimed MMORPG. It was a fun walk down memory lane seeing Yoshi-P recap the highlights of 2013’s A Realm Reborn and each expansion since, such as Heavensward‘s introduction of the now-standard multiple raid difficulties and more recent additions like the Duty Support system. But the excitement in the room spiked when it seemed like he was about to reveal Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail‘s release date… but first, let’s talk about that Collector’s Edition, huh?

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Editions

No FFXIV expansion would be complete without a massive Collector’s Edition, and Dawntrail is no exception. Take a look at this thing:

Yoshi-P showed off each item in detail — almost with the white glove treatment no less, until said gloves didn’t cooperate and he just went on with the reveal. Seen in the image above are:

• A highly detailed figure of the Warrior of Light as one of Dawntrail‘s two new jobs, Viper.
• A cloth map of the expanded world of FFXIV, with the New World of Tural now, well on the map.
• A blank journal modeled after the in-game one, “The Unending Journey,” so players can document their own journeys. It may be my favorite part of the set since it’s cool seeing real-world versions of in-game objects like this!
• An Adventurer’s Pen Case that seems to be a leather-like, rollable case for pens with a detailed map imprint on one side and slots for pens (or whatever you want!) on the other side. The PAX audience was perhaps as excited about this as the map — it got a really positive reception.
• And, of course, a big ol’ shiny box to house it all, with gorgeous new artwork by the legendary Yoshitaka Amano.

It’s a very nice set that will look great on a shelf — especially the metallic finish on the outer box. Of course, these goodies come with a price: $214.99 USD. Like before, this particular set that includes the items above and the game is for the Windows and macOS client only (not Steam). But Square Enix also will have a “game-less” Collector’s Edition Box for $155.00 USD if you want the physical goods but play on other platforms like PlayStation, Xbox, or Steam.

Beyond the physical items, there are a trio of exciting in-game items. The “biggest” is no doubt the Ark mount, right out of Final Fantasy IX, which joins the Wind-up Garnet minion and an adorable Chocobo Brush for the new Pictomancer job. Images and the video show these off better than words though, and explains why the room erupted in cheers with the Ark reveal:

The Digital Collector’s Edition includes all the in-game items, but, of course, none of the physical ones, for $59.99 USD. And it’s not limited or something you can miss out on if the pre-order site isn’t working only for you to learn they all sold out in two minutes while you tried to get online to place your order not that this happened to me or that I’m still bummed I couldn’t get an Endwalker paladin statue or anyth-

… anyway, the Digital Collector’s Edition is a great way to go for some of these goodies if you don’t need the explorer-themed goodies in the physical edition.

Finally, there is also a Standard Edition with no bonus items, which will retail for $39.99 USD.

But finally finally, there is another pair of items for players who pre-order! Along with the game release date, pre-order timing was revealed at the panel: Pre-orders of all kinds open on March 26th (that’s this Tuesday!) at 9:00am PDT / 12:00pm EDT, and doing so will net you the Wind-up Zidane Minion and Azeyma’s Earrings. Zidane follows you and looks cute, but the earrings will grant any combat class a 30% EXP bonus from levels 1 through 90, with stats that scale as you level. Oh, and they’re pretty:

Somewhere in the middle of all this FFIX stuff, Yoshi-P quipped (translated), “You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy IX references here, but the reason is a secret.” Which, you know, awesome, bring it on! FFIX is one that hasn’t been represented much at all in Final Fantasy XIV so far, so I can’t wait to see what they’re plotting.

Dawntrail Release Date

Easily the biggest news of the panel was the release date. Previously only scheduled for “summer 2024,” many fans knew that technically could have meant a release date as late as mid-September. But Yoshi-P surprised — and based on some personal reactions, delighted — us by revealing a July 2nd release date. Though for players who-order, you’ll get early access to Dawntrail and can play before that weekend, on June 28th. It’s really ideal timing for many North American players who may be celebrating the 4th of July or Canada Day that weekend, isn’t it?

Yoshi-P went on to say they originally wanted to release a week prior, on June 21st, but he didn’t want it to compete with the release of Elden Ring: Shadows of the Erdtree. He jokingly went on to emphatically state — upraised “one” gesture to the room — “I’ll give you one week!” before saying that he also wants to play the DLC. So there you have it! Even some big publishers try to make room for other games, which I certainly appreciate as a player.

Final Fantasy XVI Crossover

To wrap up, we got a release date for the Final Fantasy XVI crossover event that’s coming to Final Fantasy XIV — the event will debut on April 2nd and run through May 8th. But if you haven’t played FFXVI, don’t worry, the event has been designed to be spoiler-free, and with exciting (but unrevealed) rewards. Yoshi-P said this was partially because he knows some players are waiting for the PC release of Final Fantasy XVI to play it, so he wants to respect that by focusing on early-game aspects of FFXVI for this crossover event. (There’s no firm PC date for FFXVI yet, but they’re working on it.)

And there you have it! To recap: Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail launches on July 2nd, with pre-orders granting early access on June 28th. It will be available in several physical and digital forms ranging in price and with varying levels of physical and digital goodies, there’s lots of FFIX happening in the bonuses, and the FFXVI crossover runs through most of April and part of May. You can learn more and see more detailed images for all the physical items on the official Dawntrail product page.

There will be more Live Letters and news on Dawntrail in the meantime, with new in-game footage showing off the upcoming graphical upgrade and more coming soon.