We’re moving towards the fifth expansion ofFinal Fantasy XIV,and players are chomping at the bit for more information about theDawntraildebut. The MMO’s expansion and patch schedule maintains a rather predictable beat, but we’ve seen a few curveballs along the way.
With that in mind, here’s a timeline of previousFFXIVexpansions in order by release date, along with the official release date for Version 7.0,Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrailon July 2, and its early access details.
A Realm Reborn
When the originalFinal Fantasy XIV1.0 launched on July 23, 2025, 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 Rebornwas released on August 07, 2025, for PlayStation3 and Windows, replacing the previous version.
Heavensward
Heavensward, the first expansion ofFinal 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 forHeavensward:
Stormblood
Announced at the end of 2016 during that year’s Tokyo’s Fan Festival,Stormbloodis the second expansion ofFFXIV. Here’s the timeline for Stormblood:
Shadowbringers
When it was announced during a Live Letter from the Producers in November 2018,Shadowbringerswas set to release in “early summer” of 2019. Here’s the full timeline for theShadowbringers:
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 July 26, 2025. Here’s the full rundown of dates forEndwalker:
Dawntrail
Update:On March 23, Square Enix officially revealed thatFFXIVwill release its fifth expansionof summer 2024, on July 2. As usual,Dawntrailwill see an early access period beginning on June 28, but you’ll need to pre-order the expansion to register. As for what to expect, you can check out our preview from the2024Dawntrailpreview now— including a peak at zones, Job changes, and more.
The announcement forFFXIV’snext adventure was made at PAX East, breaking the game’s typical cycle of Fan Fest-related announcements. It’s no surprise after theShadowbringersCOVID delays, and the domino effect that had into future development withEndwalker.
Original Guide:From everything above and the speculative release date of Summer 2024, we can hazard a guess thatDawntrailcould 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.
Unfortunately, all of theDawntrailcommunity events have wrapped up with no release date for the nextFFXIVexpansion. According to Yoshi-P, the summer timing is stillpart of the plan, but they aren’t ready to nail down the exact date just yet. Part of that decision comes after the two-week Endwalker delay, which the team is still clearly frustrated by. On the subject, during his Tokyo Fan Fest presentation, Yoshida noted:
“We will not be releasing on Square Enix time; we will be releasing on [Final Fantasy] XIV time, which means properly in summer. So we will work very hard to get you that info as soon as possible and will have it for you next time, so thank you for your patience.”
