Square Enix, the developers of Final Fantasy XIV, have been tight-lipped on the release dates of upcoming patches since the release of 6.55. It’s understood there’s at least three more small updates set to hit FFXIV before the release of Dawntrail in the summer, and today, Square Enix let slip about the timing of one of those updates in an unrelated technical announcement.
In a post detailing the end of support for Windows 32-bit operating systems and DirectX 9, it was stated that FFXIV Patch 6.58 was scheduled for March. This is significant, since there wasn’t a public timeline for the remaining content in Endwalker (including the Final Fantasy XVI crossover event and other additions) until this post. Beyond this, the X.X8 patches are often smaller content and bug-fix patches, and this implies that the game will remain relatively unchanged until sometime in March.
The post itself outlined the end of DirectX 9 and Windows 32-bit OS support, explaining it due to the graphical update coming in 7.0 (Dawntrail). Previously, despite a lack of support, players could still run FFXIV on 32-bit operating systems and using DirectX 9. From Patch 6.58, this will no longer be the case. While it’s highly likely most players aren’t running DX9 and 32-bit operating systems, this is probably a good time to double check. The game’s official system requirements were also updated on the FFXIV website.
FFXIV players are counting the days until the release of Dawntrail, and every time a new hint and update about a patch or release date drops, it’s significant. Even though Square Enix is content to let people wait for now, news that they’ll receive another patch in March will be enough to keep many going for a while.
