You may have seen the story floating around that Square Enix said there will be no Final Fantasy XIV expansion in 2023. This information came from the publisher’s recent financial briefing for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. On the eleventh page of the results briefing presentation, the slide states “MMO: No expansion pack release planned but will focus on retaining users through a variety of operational initiatives.”
The only two MMOs in operation at Square Enix are Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X. So many took this to mean that the publisher had no expansion planned for 2023 at all. That would be a change for FFXIV, which has generally released an expansion every two years since its relaunch: A Realm Reborn released in 2013, Heavensward was 2015, Stormblood was 2017, Shadowbringers was 2019, and even the delayed Endwalker still hit in 2021.
The confusion comes from the language in the slide and the difference between calendar year and fiscal year. Calendar year aligns with a standard calendar, starting on January 1 and ending on December 31. Fiscal year can be aligned with calendar year, but is specific to the company. A fiscal year can end on any quarter: March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31. In Square Enix’s case, its fiscal year ends on March 31. So “fiscal year 2023” ends on March 31, 2023.
Going back to the presentation, the main question is whether Square Enix meant no expansion planned for calendar year 2023 or fiscal year 2023. It’s hard to parse in the document, so we here at Fanbyte just… asked Square Enix. PR on behalf of Square Enix confirmed that the slide was referencing fiscal year 2023, which ends on March 31, 2023. So, there will be no FFXIV or Dragon Quest X expansion by the end of March.
Does this mean that we are getting an expansion for FFXIV in 2023? No clue. It’s possible — my guess is it’s coming in November or December, like Endwalker, or in early 2024 — but there’s no confirmation either way. The slide was merely saying there’s no expansion coming in the next two months, which is unsurprising. The FFXIV team isn’t even done telling the post-launch story yet, so there’s more ahead of us in the run-up to whatever the next expansion looks like.
