Dawntrail’ delayed because of ‘Elden Ring’ expansion

The release date for Final Fantasy 14 expansion Dawntrail has been confirmed, coming one week after Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree launches.

Earlier this year, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida confirmed Square Enix would not be announcing a release date for the Dawntrail expansion until they were sure it wouldn’t be moved, following the two-week delay of Endwalker.

“We are taking great care to make sure our schedule is on track before announcing [the release date], but we will get you that info as soon as we can,” he continued before promising the expansion would be coming at some point this summer.

Now Yoshida has confirmed Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail will release July 2 following an early access launch on June 28.

We’re pleased to announce FINAL FANTASY XIV: #Dawntrail arrives on Tuesday, July 2, 2024!

Early access is scheduled to begin on Friday, June 28 – save the dates! 📅 https://t.co/WMggNqslki pic.twitter.com/HnB7ubY74u

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) March 23, 2024

Speaking at gaming festival PAX East over the weekend, Yoshida went on to say that he had hoped to launch Dawntrail a week earlier but “Elden Ring DLC”, with the highly anticipated Shadow Of The Edtree expansion releasing June 21. 

“We figured everyone would be interested in playing the Elden Ring DLC. I’ll give you one week,” he added. “I just want to make it clear, it’s not because I want to play Elden Ring DLC and then play Dawntrail,” he added with a grin. “Although I am looking forward to it.”

Pre-orders for Dawntrail go live later this week, with a number of bonuses available. All pre-orders will grant players early access alongside a wind-up figure of Final Fantasy 9’s hero Zidane and Azeyma’s earrings, which increase EXP earned from defeating enemies by up to 30 per cent.

The digital collector’s edition will also reward players with three bonus items (ark mount, wind-up Garnet minion, and chocobo brush) while a physical collector’s box might not include an actual copy of the expansion, but it does feature a Viper figure, an adventurer’s cloth map, the unending journey ruled notebook, and a pencil case. The collector’s edition features all of the above for £170 ($214).

Dawntrail will introduce two new classes to Final Fantasy 14 and open up the western region of Tural.

In other news, Larian CEO Swen Vinke has revealed the studio were working on an expansion for Baldur’s Gate 3 and a sequel before cancelling both projects.