With a new year comes a new greeting letter from the Director and Lead Producer of Final Fantasy 14, Naoki Yoshida, who gives his usual status check for the near future and year to come—plus for the themes we’ll be seeing in future updates.
First in the line of teasers, Yoshida recalls a conversation with the Community Team, which half-jokes that the next task after finishing this round of Fan Festivals is to start the next one. Therefore, we’ll definitely be seeing more Fan Fests in the future. (Yes, event organization on that scale can take that long, especially with visas, securing venues, and the massive custom props they need to take into account.)
As for when the Fan Fests will come, the last one came when it was time to ramp up announcements for the next expansion, just after the 6.4 patch, so we’ll probably see everything announced in the middle of this year and actually take place around early to mid 2026.
Then, the letter shows off the usual in-universe poem that comes with the new year, this time “From the Diary of a Young Man:”
Never stop. Never turn back.
He who stops will ne’er endure.
He who turns will ne’er be more.
Yoshida notes that the vibes this time are entirely different—and to be fair, so is the “stationery,” which isn’t stationery at all, but instead printed text on a “tech” background. The Alexandrian style is distinct, so what could it mean? It seems more like something from Endwalker, no?
Finally, Yoshida notes that the “Development team is deep into our work on Patch 7.2,” and that checks will start for the “jam-packed patch” in February, meaning we’re probably on track to see a mid-March patch release. Hopefully, the content will be enough to fulfill some of my 2025 wishes for the game’s well-being.
In the meantime, the Heavensturn new year’s event is going on, where you can get a cute little wiggly guy for the Year of the Snake (or Serpent?) and some cool Far Eastern-themed decorations.
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