Here is a summary of Naoki Yoshida's Keynote speech during the Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV) FanFest 2023 in Las Vegas. The Keynote contained information about the upcoming expansion, as well as some small updates that are coming soon.

Right before the Keynote speech, FFXIV released the first teaser trailer for its upcoming expansion, Dawntrail, with a release window of Summer 2024.

Afterward, FFXIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida went on stage to present the event's Keynote speech. He first mentioned that the team aims to release the expansion “as early in summer as possible.” Summer 2024 starts in June and ends in August, so we can hope that the expansion will come out around that time. They then moved forward to talk about the expansion.

First off, the theme for the current expansion is “A Journey of Discovery.” After the events of Endwalker, the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn finally have some time to themselves. As such, this expansion serves as a sort of vacation time for everyone. This is further reflected in the teaser trailer. They also described the general gist of the expansion in one of the slides:

Warriors of Light will receive a very special guest. Winds of opportunity bring a visitor from the new world, seeking the Warrior of Light's aid in a rite of succession to determine Tural's next ruler.

Alongside Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Erenville, the Warrior of Light embarks upon a journey across the Indigo Deep. Should rumor be true, the contest may lead them to the fabled gates of a city of gold. Little do they know that it will also see the scions divided.

The land that the Warrior of Light travels to is Tural, also known as The New World. Tural is found West of Eorzea, and will be the newest location in the game. They also revealed three of the locations in Tural:

  • Tuliyollal
    • The new hub city
    • “The Seat of the Federal Nation State governing Tural, Tuliyollal. It is located in the northern reaches of Yok Tural. The nation's ruler is currently Gulool Ja Ja, a two-headed Mamool Ja”
      • The Warrior of Light is actually fighting Gulook Ja Ja in the teaser trailer
  • Urqopacha
    • A mountainous region home to various people
  • Yak T'el
    • A thick forest south-east of Tuliyollal

They also introduced a new allied tribe: The Pelupelu. This is only one of the many tribes that we will get to know in Dawntrail.

After giving an idea of what the new continent is like, Yoshida proceeded to the updates and new content coming to Dawntrail. For starters, he mentioned that the level cap is going up from 90 to 100. This has been the trend in the past expansions, with each expansion increasing the current cap by 10. Additionally, thanks to this increase in the level cap, all combat Jobs will also receive new skills.

Speaking of combat jobs, Yoshida goes on to reveal that there will be two new combat jobs. Both of these jobs are DPS. Specifically, one of them is a melee DPS, while the other is a Magic DPS. It was here that Yoshida, under the pretense of it being hot in the venue, removed his oversized shirt to reveal yet another shirt underneath, one with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it. This reignited rumors and discussion about the upcoming jobs. This is because Yoshida has a knack for teasing future Jobs using the shirts that he wears during the Fan Fests. The main theories seem to be Corsair or Pirate, Pictomancer, and Green Mage.

He then moves on to say that the expansion, like the ones before it, will include new dungeons, variant dungeons, alliance raids, 8-player raids, and Ultimate raids. This also brings with it updates to Duty Support, which Yoshida mentions will debut characters outside of the Scions. He also mentioned that there will be an “expansive new lifestyle content” in the save vein as the Island Sanctuary they introduced in Endwalker. Yoshida also brought up that there will be new Frontline maps for PvP, as well as updates to Blue Mage, Deep Dungeon, the Gold Saucer, and a new Hildibrand questline (Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures).

Yoshida then mentioned that Dawntrail will see the game's first graphical update, something a lot of players have been waiting for. The graphical update will bring improvements to screen-wide aesthetic appeal, higher resolution textures and shadows, and improved material qualities. One of the biggest changes seems to be to the player's character models, making the edges on the model look smoother, have better eye depth, and more.

Yoshida then moved on to system updates, starting with the dye system. Much to the excitement of players, players can now add two dyes per piece of equipment. Additionally, players can also equip eyeglasses alongside their headgear. Thankfully these are just cosmetic pieces and will not have stats. They also announced that the furnishing limit will increase with the Dawntrail Expansion. Finally, they announced that they will introduce a Strategy Board for raiders, which allows them to draft plans for their upcoming raids.

After disclosing everything they can about Dawntrail, they moved on to some updates for the game's current expansion. For starters, Yoshida announced that starting Patch 6.5, FFXIV's Free Trial will now include Stormblood. This means players can now play the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV with even more expanded free trial that includes the entirety of A Realm Reborn, the award-winning Heavensward expansion, AND Stormblood up to Level 70 with no restrictions on playtime.

Yoshida also announced an upcoming crossover between FFXIV and Fall Guys. Players will be able to get FFXIV themed cosmetics in Fall Guys, while FFXIV players will be able to play in Fall Guys-inspired stages in the Gold Saucer.

Finally, Yoshida called in Microsoft Gaming's CEO Phil Spencer. Spencer and Yoshida announced that FFXIV was finally coming to Xbox. An open beta test for this release will start during Patch 6.5X. It will officially release in the Spring of 2024, right before the launch of Dawntrail.

That's it for our summary of the keynote speech that Naoki Yoshida held during the FFXIV Las Fegas FanFest 2023. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.