There’s nothing better than a proper birthday celebration. Final Fantasy XIV is on the road to celebrating its 9th anniversary. Now, this is not the anniversary of the original release of the MMO, which happened on September 30, 2010. Instead, we’re talking about the release of A Realm Reborn, which happened way back on August 27, 2013.
The FFXIV team has started a small countdown leading up to August 27, 2022, which will land on a Saturday for folks here in North America. And for the celebration, the official FFXIV account is sharing high-res artwork from the game. The first piece of art was of Thancred in his current Gunbreaker attire. This was followed by art of Y’shtola that sticks closer to her in-game presentation, rather than what you tend to see in some of the fan art.
We’ll be updating this article with all of the art pieces as they’re released by the FFXIV team.
11 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
We're doing a daily countdown with character illustrations until Saturday, August 27!
Today we have Thancred.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/ft234LVz7i
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 16, 2022
10 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Y'shtola.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/UvqhS39OEs
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 17, 2022
9 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Urianger.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/1RaC4fMNkA
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 18, 2022
8 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Alphinaud.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/aKm7g3cjxR
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 19, 2022
7 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Alisaie.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/5YJXA6vcke
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 20, 2022
6 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have G'raha Tia.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/dwo87CtPdY
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 21, 2022
5 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Tataru.Look forward to tomorrow’s post! pic.twitter.com/hxii1U8CUl
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 22, 2022
4 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Krile.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/d8v322iktO
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 23, 2022
3 days until #FFXIV's 9th anniversary. ✨
Daily character illustration countdown!
Today we have Estinien.Look forward to tomorrow's post! pic.twitter.com/jdGXCdBuqN
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) August 24, 2022
At some point soon, we should get the announcement of this year’s iteration of The Rising seasonal event. The event usually comes complete with decorations in the main cities and a seasonal quest that rewards cosmetics like minions, furnishing, or fashion items. An in-game avatar of creative director and lead producer Naoki Yoshida sometimes appears during the event. (A Hyur that looks like Yoshida, not to be confused with his Lalafell player character, which we’ve seen in some Live Letter streams.) In the event quests, the Yoshida stand-in tends to share some poetic words with you as the player, sometimes breaking the fourth wall for a sweet gesture to celebrate FFXIV itself.
Given that this is the 9th anniversary, that means the next major milestone for FFXIV will come in 2023. The 10th anniversary will be on August 27, 2023. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more information or teasers to lead into the next expansion and Patch 7.0, which we would anticipate sometime late next year. Up until Endwalker, FFXIV expansions were released in June and July. Endwalker was delayed and ultimately released in December. If the FFXIV team continues on the current schedule, that’d put the 10th anniversary just in time for Patch 6.5, which would set the stage for the next expansion coming later in the year or early 2024.
While Yoshida has already hinted at the road to the next expansion and Patch 7.0, and teased the 7.0 graphical overhaul, we still have plenty of FFXIV in the near future! Patch 6.2 is coming on August 23, which is only a week away! You can read all about the all-new Island Sanctuary, brand-new gear, and perhaps a little speculation about where the story is going and what the patch’s continued Final Fantasy IV references could mean.
