We’re moving towards the fifth expansion of Final Fantasy XIV, and players are chomping at the bit for more information on when to expect Dawntrail. The MMO’s expansion and patch schedule maintain a rather predictable beat, but we’ve seen a few curveballs along the wall.
With that in mind, here’s a timeline of previous FFXIV expansions in order by release date, to further your speculation about where Dawntrail’s summer release window will fall.
A Realm Reborn
When the original Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 launched on September 30, 2010, it was immediately dubbed a failure. At least, that was until Yoshi P and his team stepped up to drag the game back from the dead, making it the incredibly successful MMO that we know today.
A Realm Reborn was released on August 27, 2013, for PlayStation 3 and Windows, replacing the previous version.
Heavensward
Heavensward, the first expansion of Final Fantasy XIV, was announced in October 2014 and was set to release in the Spring of 2015, though it saw a small delay. Here’s the timeline for Heavensward:
| Announced | October 2014 |
| Was it delayed? | Yes, from Spring to Summer 2015 |
| Pre-orders began | March 16, 2015 |
| Early Access Weekend began | June 19, 2015 |
| Official launch date | June 23, 2015 |
Stormblood
Announced at the end of 2016 during that year’s Tokyo’s Fan Festival, Stormblood is the second expansion of FFXIV. Here’s the timeline for Stormblood:
| Release Date Revealed: | Tokyo FanFest, December 25, 2016 |
| Was it delayed? | No |
| Pre-order began | January 24, 2017 |
| Early Access Weekend began | June 16, 2017 |
| Official launch date | June 20, 2017 |
Shadowbringers
When it was announced during a Live Letter from the Producers in November 2018, Shadowbringers was set to release in “early summer” of 2019. Here’s the full timeline for the Shadowbringers:
| Release Date Revealed: | Paris FanFest, February 2, 2019 |
| Was it delayed? | No |
| Pre-order began | February 6, 2019 |
| Early Access Weekend began | June 28, 2019 |
| Official launch date | July 2, 2019 |
Endwalker
The last expansion that players received, Endwalker, faced a few issues during release, including delays and the expected queuing issues during early access. It was teased in a post on the Lodestone and officially announced during a showcase on February 5, 2021. Here’s the full rundown of dates for Endwalker:
| Release Date Revealed: | May, 2021 |
| Was it delayed? | Yes, by two weeks from November 23, 2021 |
| Pre-order began | May 14, 2021 |
| Early Access Weekend began | December 3, 2021 |
| Official launch date | December 7, 2021 |
Dawntrail
From everything above and the speculative release date of Summer 2024, we can hazard a guess that Dawntrail could possibly be released during June 2024, but that is not confirmed as of yet. Plus, Yoshi-P already stressed during the Las Vegas Fanfest that it’s just a window, and summer goes on until August.
However, considering that exact dates have been revealed at Fan Festivals, dare we hope for the same to be true about Dawntrail? With FFXIV Tokyo Fan Festival 2024 in only a few days on January 7, perhaps we will have something solid to cling to sooner than we think!
