Square Enix kicked off Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin with a massive keynote address from Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P). Fans received a deep dive into FINAL FANTASY XIV: Evercold, the MMORPG’s sixth expansion launching in January 2027, along with hardware announcements, release dates, and major cross-franchise collaborations.

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Here is a breakdown of the biggest announcements from the keynote address.

New Tank Job introduced to Final Fantasy XIV: Bastion

Headline news for FFXIV: Evercold is the introduction of a brand-new main tank job called the Bastion. As a tank main myself, this one is super exciting.

Rather than relying on traditional swords or axes, the Bastion fights using a pair of specialised defensive armaments called skyltborg (greatshields). Designed as a front-line defender, the class leans into heavy mitigation and shield-focused abilities to control the battlefield.

Check out the official Bastion Job Teaser Video to see the class in action.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy crossover raid: “Beyond the Lifestream”

Square Enix is bringing one of its biggest RPG franchises into FFXIV with a new 8-player raid series titled Beyond the Lifestream. FFVII is one of my all-time favourite games, and we know it’s one of the most popular Final Fantasy games, so this one has fans stoked.

Naoki Hamaguchi, Director of the FINAL FANTASY VII Remake trilogy, joined Yoshida on stage to announce the collaboration. Both development teams are co-designing the encounter mechanics to bring Midgar-inspired raid progression into the world of Hydaelyn.

New EVANGELION Crossover details & guest designer

Following up on April’s reveal of the EVANGELION – Ghosts of Desire alliance raid, Square Enix released a new teaser trailer while confirming a major addition to the creative team.

Renowned anime director and animator Mahiro Maeda (known for Mad Max: Fury Road, EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time) has officially joined the project as a guest artist and concept designer.

New gameplay features & system overhauls in Evercold

Alongside narrative developments set in the Fourth, several mechanical and customisation changes were revealed:

• Non-Linear Main Scenario & Auto Balancing: Players will now have the freedom to select which regional paths to complete first in the main scenario. An Auto Content Balancing system will dynamically adjust enemy levels and dungeon difficulty based on chosen progression routes.
• Character Action Skins: Players can now customise default utility actions. The system launches with alternate animations for Teleport and Warp, with job action skins planned for post-launch updates.
• Expanded Character Customisation: Includes an expanded colour picker, granular adjustments for eye and lip shapes, and new cosmetics like eye shadow.
• Chocobo Companion System Overhaul (Patch 8.1): Companion raising will receive a full rework, allowing players to summon their Chocobos to battle alongside them inside dungeons.
• Keybound Brawler: A new FFVII-themed typing mini-game at the Gold Saucer supporting up to four players, launching October 28, 2026.
• Same-Region Matchmaking (Patch 7.5x): Physical data centers will soon share duty matching pools across all logical data centers, rolling out to Japan in October before coming to North America and Europe.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Comes to Nintendo Switch 2

Square Enix officially confirmed that FINAL FANTASY XIV Online will launch on the Nintendo Switch 2, and it’s here! You can head over to the Nintendo eShop to purchase and download your copy.

To help handle initial server loads, Square Enix is including an approximate one-month free subscription period for all Switch 2 players at launch. The Free Trial, Starter Edition, Complete Edition, and Dawntrail expansion are all supported. This is a super awesome update for FFXIV players, because it means you can play the same character on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch. Just be mindful that you’ll need to purchase the same expansions on each platform and link them to a single Square Enix account.