At long last, the Final Fantasy 14 team has reached the final live event of this season in Japan, the FFXIV Fan Festival in Tokyo, where it’s likely to receive a warm, excited welcome from plenty of excited fans in its home country. It’s also the last in-person event before the new Dawntrail expansion drops sometime this summer.
With FFXIV becoming a global phenomenon now, though, fans from around the world are eager to hear what this one has to bring, as each FanFest brings quite a bit of new information with it. Japan’s edition will most likely have some major updates, between it being home and the last pre-expansion event, minus some Letters from the Producers. Thankfully, some of the most important bits are shared online through live streams—though not all of it.
In anticipation of FanFest Tokyo, we’re here to help you get ready with a quick overview of what to expect this weekend, what won’t be available (especially if you don’t speak Japanese), and what to maybe expect, in a few cases.
Be warned, by the way, if you’re not all the way up to Endwalker: There may be spoilers during the event!
What New Information Will Be Part Of The FFXIV Fan Festival in Tokyo 2024 Keynote?
To kick off the last Fan Festival of the 2023-24 series, as with every other FanFest, there’ll be a keynote, most likely presented by director and lead producer Naoki Yoshida, unveiling new information about the upcoming expansion. Previously, we got the first bits of new information on the upcoming Dawntrail expansion in general, the graphic update, and the first new combat class.
In the Tokyo Fan Festival keynote, fans are sure at least one major Dawntrail item will be unveiled: the second new combat class. We know at least that it’ll be a casting class of some kind, along the lines of Summoner and Black Mage, though we’re not exactly sure which. However, Yoshida has pointed at the importance of Sharlayan scholar Krile in Dawntrail, so she’ll likely be wielding it.
Everything else is speculation, as there aren’t any actual details, but there are some strong guesses based on what’s been previously announced. For instance, the Xbox edition of FFXIV and its testing is forthcoming, for instance, so chances are we’ll get dates. Each keynote, and some updates in between, have shown players further details on graphical updates. Many fans are also still eagerly awaiting the arrival of playable female Hrothgar, and there’s also post-expansion content to unveil—and even possibly a full trailer.
Anything else we don’t hear this weekend will likely be part of an upcoming “Letter from the Producer,” in which Yoshida and Toshio “Foxcon” Murouchi share details about forthcoming updates.
What Else Is Part Of FFXIV Fan Festival Tokyo 2024?
As FFXIV Fan Festival is a two-day event, there are numerous other presentations taking place throughout. Since FFXIV is a Japanese game at its core, much of the programming centers around national guests that are invited to speak, as well as more casual community-oriented events.
Day 1 programming is as follows:
- “Opening Ceremony”
- “Tales from the Development Side” featuring department/task leads: Naoki Yoshida (director/producer), Shinya Ichida (animator), Masayoshi Soken (composer), Banri Oda (main scenario writer), Yosuke Hayashi (item designer), Arata Takahashi (level design), Masaki Nakagawa (battle concept designer), Yoshiki Takanashi (background artist), Kei Odagiri (user interface), Shuhei Shiota(?), Toshio Murouchi (producer)
- “Crystal Tsushin Presents Trivia Show & Venue Walkthrough” — FFXI community manager Kazuyoshi Mochizuki presenting with guests Yui-P (Okazu Club), Crystal Noda (Magical Lovely)
- “GALLERIA Presents Crystal Conflict Regional Championship 2023,” presented by Naoki Yoshida with hosts so5u, Nishimura Baby
- “Piano Performance” — NOT included in free FanFest programming
And Day 2 will have these events:
- “Welcome to Naoki’s Room” with Naoki Yoshida, Toshio Murouchi (“Foxcon”) and guests Crystal Noda (Magical Lovely), Megumi Han, Hirokazu Hamamura
- “Glamour Collection Cosplay Show”
- “Flashback with the Cast - A Realm Reborn 10th Anniversary Special Edition”
- “THE PRIMALS Live in Concert” — NOT included in free FanFest programming
Unfortunately, as listed above, the only part of FanFest Tokyo that'll be officially interpreted in English is the initial keynote due to the importance of the information contained within. However, there’s a group of talented translators on the community “Final Fantasy XIV” Discord server (formerly /r/ffxiv) that will often translate interesting or important things mentioned during certain Japanese events.
Are The FFXIV Fan Festival Tokyo 2024 Primals and Piano Concerts Available To Stream?
One of the most anticipated parts of each Fan Festival is the performances by invited guests and FFXIV staff alike. Once again, there’ll be two concerts—but they aren’t available to watch for free for everyone.
On night one is a piano performance by pianist Keiko; night two features The Primals, the staff cover band turned official FFXIV rock band featuring Soken and original translation lead Koji Fox. Both performances tend to feature guests such as composer Masayoshi Soken and certain singers from the soundtrack, and they cover a breadth of songs, especially new ones from the recent expansion. (Author’s note: Both were pretty cool in Las Vegas.)
Unfortunately, these concerts aren’t part of the free FanFest programming. But thankfully for those interested anyway, unlike other editions of FanFest, there is a paid stream available, if fans are willing. If you pay for one ticket, you get both concerts, so there’s no need to fuss over individual pricing.
Combined virtual tickets to these streamed events can be bought through the official StreamPass site. It’s 3500 yen plus a 440 yen service charge, which comes out to 3940 yen, or about $27.25 USD as of writing. Once you buy it, you’ll be able to watch it until February 6, so if you miss it live, you can catch up another time.
If you do opt to watch them, Keiko’s FanFest piano performance will be 2:30 a.m. to 3:40 a.m. PST, and The Primals’ rock show will take place 1:30 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. Chances are that the closing ceremony will follow The Primals as well.
When And Where Is The FFXIV Fan Fest Tokyo 2024?
As FFXIV Fan Festival in Tokyo is, in fact, in Tokyo, which is in Japan, it may be tricky to figure out what time things come on. Thankfully, the official blog confirms foreign American times.
Most fans will want to tune into FFXIV Fan Fest for the keynote on Saturday, January 6th, at 5:00 p.m. PST (1:00 a.m. GDT on January 7th for the Europeans), and day 2 of FanFest begins the same time the next day. All other FanFest programming immediately follows the keynote, but precise times may vary due to live event shenanigans.
There are the official links given by the FFXIV team for all the free streaming options:
- YouTube Live:
- Twitch (both days)
- Niconico Live (Japanese site)
Streamers on any platform are also allowed to co-stream many of the FanFest events, so chances are your favorite creators may be following along as well.
What are you planning on tuning in for—and what do you look forward to hearing about from Dawntrail?
