Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold Launches 23 February 2027 as Zephyr Joins the Job List

Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold launches on Tuesday 23 February 2027, and pre-orders open on Wednesday 4 November. Square Enix used the Fan Festival 2026 keynote in Tokyo to reveal zephyr, the expansion’s second new job, alongside a full Evercold trailer, an EVANGELION alliance raid and a new raid difficulty. It also announced that the MMO has passed 35 million registered accounts.

If you pre-order, early access is pencilled in for Friday 19 February 2027 at 9:00am GMT. That’s four days to get ahead of everyone else, or to get stuck at the same boss as them a bit sooner.

Zephyr: crossbows and a bird called Nephele

Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida revealed zephyr during the opening keynote. It’s a physical ranged DPS that fights with crossbow shots and help from an avian familiar called Nephele. Square Enix says zephyrs trace their origins to the mountains of north-western Ilsabard, where they hunted to survive the wilderness. You can watch it in action in the zephyr job trailer.

Zephyr joins bastion, the tank job Square Enix had already announced, which fights with a giant greatshield called a skyltborg. Both new jobs can only be played in the new Evolved Mode (more on that below). Evercold also raises the level cap from 100 to 110. The keynote also brought the full-length Evercold trailer.

What else Evercold brings

Evercold takes the Warrior of Light to the icebound Realm of the Fourth, with new areas aboard its enormous realmships. The keynote also confirmed:

• EVANGELION: Ghosts of Desire: a new alliance raid series in crossover with EVANGELION. There’s a crossover trailer too. Alliance raid bosses will also be reused for new, tougher eight-player battles.
• Beyond the Lifestream: the new raid series, a crossover with Final Fantasy VII Remake, now has new art from Tetsuya Nomura.
• Fierce difficulty: a new eight-player raid setting that sits between Normal and Savage.
• Evolved Mode: a new combat mode built around each job’s identity. Reborn Mode keeps the current combat system for anyone who prefers it.
• Seasons: a redesigned system for earning rewards and raising item level.
• Character creation: a new colour picker, finer control over features such as eyes and lips, and Character Action Skins that let you customise how abilities look.
• Patch 8.1 onwards: expanded housing, PvP updates and a revamped companion chocobo system.

Square Enix says some of these updates, including the new battle system and the PvP and housing changes, will reach players who don’t buy Evercold. Some content will arrive in later patches rather than at launch.

Pre-orders, bonuses and the Collector’s Box

Pre-orders for Evercold and the physical Collector’s Box open on Wednesday 4 November 2026 at 9:00am GMT. Pre-ordering from participating retailers gets you:

• Early access from Friday 19 February 2027 at 9:00am GMT (still tentative). To play during early access, you need to have registered Dawntrail and completed certain quests.
• Halone’s Earring: an accessory whose stats scale with your job and level, plus a 30% EXP boost from defeating enemies from level 1 to 100. It’s for Disciples of War or Magic only.
• Wind-Up Köttr minion

On Xbox Series X|S, Square Enix says a Microsoft Store pre-order registers the bonuses automatically, with no code needed. The items arrive by moogle letter the next time you launch the game and finish the pre-order registration. Square Enix says that means you can use the earring’s EXP boost before Evercold launches. It’s also offering free Evercold gamerpics for your Xbox profile on its products page.

The Digital Collector’s Edition adds three in-game items: the Valhallar Odin mount (here’s its trailer), the Entreat Crystal emote and the Crystal Skyltborg, a weapon for bastions. These items arrive once early access begins.

The Collector’s Box is physical goods only, so there’s no game, no in-game items and no pre-order bonuses. It’s sold through the Square Enix Store and contains:

• the Evercold Special Art Box, with an Evercold illustration by Yoshitaka Amano
• an Expertly Crafted Reaper Figure of the Warrior of Light
• an Ethos metal keychain
• a Köttr mini plush
• the Tapestry of the Fourth

Xbox players who want the lot can buy the Box on its own and pre-order the Digital Collector’s Edition separately. Ignore the Collector’s Bundle: its game code isn’t for Xbox.

Evercold is an expansion, so you need the full game (the Free Trial doesn’t count) and a subscription to play. Registering Evercold also gives you the Endwalker and Dawntrail expansions. Square Enix hasn’t announced Evercold prices yet, and when we checked, the expansion wasn’t yet listed on the Microsoft Store.

A bigger Free Trial

If you’ve been meaning to try Final Fantasy XIV, the Free Trial now covers A Realm Reborn through Shadowbringers, up to Patch 5.58, with no limit on playtime. That’s four full chapters of story before you spend a penny. The Xbox Free Trial is on the Microsoft Store.

You can catch up on the keynote with the Fan Festival 2026 VOD. There’s more on the expansion on the official Evercold site.

More on Final Fantasy XIV Online: our Final Fantasy XIV Online hub and Final Fantasy XIV Online: Everything We Know. More on the crossover: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade: Everything We Know.

Source: Square Enix press release; Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold official site; The Lodestone; Microsoft Store.

So, will you be picking up a crossbow as a zephyr, or holding the line with a skyltborg? Tell us on X or Facebook.