2019 was an eventful year for Final Fantasy XIV, but what can fans expect in 2020? We give you an outlook.
What happened in 2019? The past year was hot for the MMORPG. After the successful and smooth launch of the new expansion Shadowbringers, it initially received positive reviews.
On Metacritic, it received a score of 91 points and was the first Final Fantasy game in 14 years with a rating of 90+ points. The gaming press particularly praised the story and soundtrack of the game. FFXIV made it into the top 50 best games of 2019 on Metacritic.
In the Steam charts, the MMORPG recorded a strong increase in active players:
- In June 2017, at the release of the Stormblood expansion, there were an average of 12,446 players, with a peak of 25,599 players
- In July 2019, at the release of Shadowbringers, there were already an average of 23,105 with a peak of 38,909 players
The financial reports from Square Enix also reflected the increase in active players. The company announced in November that revenues from the MMO division have reached a record high, primarily due to the Shadowbringers add-on.
2019 was indeed a successful year for the MMORPG. What can fans expect in 2020?
2020 begins with a major content patch
What the near future brings: Players can expect the next major content update in mid-February 2020. With patch 5.2 “Echoes of a Fallen Star,” the following content will come to FFXIV:
- Continuation of the story
- The new dungeon “Anamnesis Anyder”
- The second part of the Eden raid, focusing in part on the element Thunder
- Two new trial battles, one being Ruby Weapon from FFVII and the other is still a secret
- Quests of the Wild Tribe of the Qitari
- Continuation of the reconstruction of Ishgard and further crafter content
Additionally, patch 5.2 will introduce the next round of “upgradable weapons and armor,” which are typically referred to as Relics in FFXIV. The questline will revolve around the Citadel of Bozja, a large city of the Hrothgar. It was reduced to rubble in the course of an experiment with the meteor Dalamud.
With patch 5.3, the main story quests of the base game, “A Realm Reborn,” will be revised. They are to be shortened to remove unnecessary running around and fetch quests. The story itself will not be changed.
The patch is roughly expected to go live at the end of spring or the beginning of summer.
What the distant future brings: Director Yoshida repeatedly emphasizes that the FFXIV team always plans about two years ahead. Therefore, fans can also look forward to several things that are still in the distant future.
This includes the next fan festivals, which will take place in 2020 and 2021 in Europe, the USA, and Japan. There, it is likely that the next expansion of FFXIV will be announced as usual.
So far, nothing is known about it, except that work on the expansion has already begun. Yoshida communicated this to the colleagues from PCGamesN.
Final Fantasy XIV will finally also be playable on Xbox, as CEO Phil Spencer stated at the X019 event. However, it is still uncertain whether this will happen in 2020.
Director Yoshida has also expressed the desire for the game to be released for the next PlayStation generation, the PS5. Overall, it is evident that Yoshida still has big plans for his MMORPG.
In that sense: “Please look forward to it.”
