Today Square Enix has shared the full schedule of the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV fan festival in London, including times and content.
According to the announcement, like the previous Fan Festinal in Las Vegas, all the panels will be livestreamed on YouTube and Twitch. The only content that will remain exclusive to in-person attendees is the two concerts.
Of course, the main event is the keynote, where producer and director Naoki Yoshida will likely share more information about the upcoming expansion Dawntrail, which was announced in Las Vegas, alongside the first details.
You can find the full schedule below. Quite interesting, we’ll see a very special guest on stage with Yoshida-san during one of the panels, and it’s the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise Hironobu Sakaguchi, who plays the game very actively.
Day 1
Stage event times are subject to change.2:00 a.m. – 3:30 a.m. (PDT)
KeynoteJoin Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida as he takes to the stage to announce the latest updates coming to FINAL FANTASY XIV.
Presenter: Naoki Yoshida
Languages: English/Japanese
3:30 a.m. – 4:00 a.m. (PDT)
Opening CeremonyThe attending guests from the FINAL FANTASY XIV Development and Operations teams arrive to greet attendees and kick off the show.
Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner
Languages: English/Japanese
4:30 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. (PDT)
Development PanelHow are the fields, dungeons, and towns designed in the world of FINAL FANTASY XIV? Join Yoshi-P as he sits down with members of the Development team for a talk about all things environmental in this development panel!
Presenter: Naoki Yoshida, Masato Shida, Tatsuya Okahisa
Languages: English/Japanese
7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. (PDT)
Who Wants to Be a Gillionaire 2Who Wants to Be a Gillionaire is back! Join us for a showdown between Team Hydaelyn and Team Zodiark as they battle their way to glory through a series of challenging questions!
Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner
Languages: English
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (PDT)
Welcome to Naoki’s RoomYoshi-P will be joined by special guest FINAL FANTASY series founder Hironobu Sakaguchi to chat about his adventures as a Warrior of Light. In the second half we will also host a Q&A session to answer your burning questions!
Players can submit questions here until Monday, September 18 at 3:59 p.m. (PDT). Please keep your questions concise and limit each post to a single question. This will allow other players to simply hit “like!” on the post to show their support and help us prioritize questions.
Presenter: Naoki Yoshida
Special Guest: Hironobu Sakaguchi
Language: English/Japanese
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (PDT)Piano Performance by Keiko
Reminisce on past adventures and enjoy the mesmerizing melodies of FFXIV in this piano concert performed by Keiko.
To ensure that all attendees can enjoy the concert without distraction, video or audio recording during the performance is strictly prohibited.
Presenters: Keiko, Masayoshi Soken
Language: English/JapaneseDay 2
2:00 a.m. – 3:30 a.m. (PDT)
A Stroll with Yoshi-PJoin us as Hironobu Sakaguchi, founder of FINAL FANTASY, tackles some familiar foes from the series! Get ready to hear anecdotes about bosses and content from the FINAL FANTASY series, as well as a peek behind the scenes with stories from the games’ development.
Presenter: Naoki Yoshida
Special Guest: Hironobu Sakaguchi
Language: English/Japanese
4:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m. (PDT)
Crystalline Conflict Regional Championship 2023 Europe & OceaniaFour semifinalist teams bring the excitement to the main stage of Fan Festival to battle it out and see who claims the European champion title!
Presenters: Rookuri, Lythi, Kevin Bouffard, Julia Häuptner
Language: English
7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (PDT)
Glamoured to Life – Cosplay WalkWe’ve invited cosplayers of all skill levels to strut their stuff on stage for everyone to see! Come enjoy the pageantry and dedication on display! Stay tuned for more information on how to apply to participate, coming soon!
Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner
Language: English
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (PDT)
Cheering ChoiceGet ready to make some noise for the Cheering Choice game! Show your unwavering support and vote for your favorite answers to some (not-so) serious FFXIV-related questions, either by cheering at the show or voting on live stream!
Presenters: Natasha Cheng, Julia Häuptner, Kevin Bouffard
Language: English
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (PDT)THE PRIMALS Live in Concert
Jam out to exhilarating tracks and relive your moments of triumph in this explosive live performance by everyone’s favorite FINAL FANTASY XIV band, THE PRIMALS!
To ensure that all attendees can enjoy the concert without distraction, video or audio recording during the performance is strictly prohibited.
Presenters: THE PRIMALS
Language: English/Japanese
Sakaguchi-san’s presence is actually interesting in more way than one. It’s probably time for us to hear more about Dawntrail‘s 24 man raid, and these often include a collaboration with an external developer. I’m fairly sure you know where I’m going, but, of course, this is exclusively my personal speculation. We’ll see.
Final Fantasy XIV is currently out for PC, PS5, and PS4, while an Xbox Series X|S version has been announced a few weeks ago and will begin its open beta relatively soon with a release window in spring 2024.
Players enjoying to the open beta will be able to play on the live servers with everyone else as it happened a while ago with the PS5 versions, so it can likely be considered akin to a soft release.
While we wait to hear more about the expansion, Square Enix also shared many details about the upcoming update, numbered 6.5.
