In Square Enix’s official earning report for the final quarter of 2022, the Japanese developer confirmed it’s not releasing Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion this year.
The developer said “no expansion pack releases” were planned for FFXIV nor Dragon Quest X, and it will instead “focus on retaining users through a variety of operational initiatives.”
This comes as no surprise to fans since the developer usually takes an extended break before releasing the next expansion.
Endwalker, for example, was planned to release roughly two years after Shadowbringers‘ introduction but was delayed for six months due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Since Endwalker was introduced in December 2021, fans could expect the next release to come at the end of the year. But that appears not to be the case.
In addition, Endwalker marked the end of FFXIV’s first narrative arc in 2021, which started with A Realm Reborn a decade ago. It means the next expansion is going to start a new era in the game’s existence. It makes sense the next expansion will take longer before it finally releases.
While most fans didn’t expect a release in 2023, the question remains for 2024. Square Enix has yet to reveal any information on the game’s next expansion and its release window.
Meanwhile, the developer registered a decrease in sales in FFXIV, which can be explained by the fact that “no expansion pack was launched” in 2022.
To help players wait for the next expansion, the developer releases more major updates to follow the post-main scenario story and adds new features to keep the game fresh.
