When will Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker 6.0 patch release?

Final Fantasy XIV players are in for a treat.

The upcoming expansion Endwalker is just around the corner. Initially set to release last summer before being delayed twice, it will finally go live on Dec. 7, and on Dec. 3 for players who preorded the game.

But first, players won’t be able to log in a long time before the expansion’s release. The servers will be under maintenance for a longer time than usual, which makes sense considering the huge amount of new content that is expected to be introduced at once.

Related: Everything new coming in Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker

Endwalker comes two years and a half after Shadowbringers, the latest expansion. It will be particularly heavy in content due to closing the story that began with A Realm Reborn, the game’s rebirth that released in 2013.

On top of new regions including Sharlayan, the Moon, Garlemald and Thavnair, two new jobs Sage and Reaper will release, as well as countless other new features and changes with the expansion.

The whole game will feel different, although the UI will stay the same for the most part. For this reason, the new files to download might be massive and the players will want to be prepared to launch the game as soon as it comes out.

When will Final Fantasy XIV‘s Endwalker 6.0 patch release?

Endwalker will release on Dec. 3 for the players who preordered the game and earned an early access, and the others will be able to test it out starting Dec. 7.

According to the official patch schedule, all servers will enter a maintenance on Dec. 2 at 3am CT that is set to end the next day, on Dec. 3 at 3am CT. As soon as the maintenance ends, players will be able to download the 6.0 patch with Endwalker and launch the game afterwards.

There’s no way to be certain that the players will actually be able to enjoy the new content at that time, however. On top of issues that can arise during the maintenance and extend the servers down time, there’s a high chance that the servers will be overloaded with players.

The game reached an unprecedented popularity this year, which might lead to more people wanting to get in on Dec. 3 and cause issues, preventing players from logging in or playing.

Square Enix is aware of the risk, however, and said it “optimized [its] servers ahead of the expansion’s launch in order to increase login caps”. On the other hand, the developer wasn’t able to add more servers ahead of the launch because of the ongoing semiconductor’s shortage, so it’s likely that queues to enter the game will be long during the first weeks.

Unfortunately, the free trial users won’t be prioritized to access the game after Endwalker’s launch, so it might be challenging for them to keep playing normally even without enjoying the new content.