Let’s hit the ground running with good news and better news: No, there is no delay this time Final Fantasy 14’s latest expansion, Dawntrail. Better yet, now that we’re exactly two weeks to the date from launch, we have a better idea of when content will come along, thanks to a schedule outlined during a “Letter Live from the Producer” aired last night.
Firstly, this is a reminder that as previously discussed in a Live Letter, there will be 48 hours of downtime for that 7.0 patch maintenance. This means servers go down for Dawntrail patching on Wednesday the 26th; we’ll see more details on that. It’s been explicitly explained, too, that this is because the new patch is so goddamned big—90GB on PC, less on PS5, and 100GB on Xbox, as explained last night in a live letter—and they want everyone to have time to get it installed.
The Early Access for Dawntrail, as well as the 7.0 patch, arrives on June 28th, as previously announced; with precise times unknown (though these patches usually go live at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. PDT). While you’ll need the expansion purchased and registered to your account for certain content, including the new classes, it’s assumed that any announced 7.0 quality of life changes spanning the full game will also be implemented, such as Fantasia changes and the graphics update.
The official launch for Dawntrail comes on Tuesday, July 2nd; this will essentially unlock the game for anyone who didn’t pre-order the game, and marks the full embarking of the expansion.
After hopefully everyone gets through the main story content, the Arcadion raid will be patched in on July 16th, two weeks after the main official launch.
Finally, two weeks later on July 30th, there’s one more significant patch. Arcadion (Savage), the high-end version of the new raids, will be released, along with accompanying high-end crafting and gathering content, plus the Allagan tomestones of heliometer. Plus, the Cenote Ja Ja Gural treasure maps will be thrown in there so you can have a little fun with friends.
As a reminder, the extra two-week delay for the Savage content was implemented in Endwalker in order to give more breathing room for expansion completion and high-end raid prep, and it carried through for every patch that included new raid content. It proved shockingly necessary, though, given the game’s severe congestion for the week or two following the expansion’s release.
As with any major game launch of this scale, these are subject to change, and downtime may happen due to fixes or the like. It’s worth noting that FFXIV is also still undergoing occasional DDoS attacks, though with less frequency and intensity as prior weeks. Stay prepared, folks, and if you do face congestion, consider hopping over to one of the emptier worlds via Data Center Travel.
