Final Fantasy XIV Evercold reveals Bastion job, Final Fantasy VII raid
by Paul McNally Last Updated July 27, 2026 Read Review You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're…
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Bastion is Final Fantasy XIV Evercold’s first new job Final Fantasy VII Remake crossover raid announced Evercold will give players more freedom Final Fantasy XIV comes to Nintendo Switch 2 in August More Final Fantasy XIV updates are on the waySquare Enix has revealed Bastion as the first new job coming to Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold, alongside details of a Final Fantasy VII Remake crossover raid series and the MMORPG’s Nintendo Switch 2 release date.
The announcements were made during producer and director Naoki Yoshida’s keynote at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin, the German city which was hit by tragedy on the same weekend. Evercold, the sixth expansion for Final Fantasy XIV Online, is scheduled to launch in January 2027 and will begin a new storyline called the Goddless Realms Saga.
An extended teaser trailer offered the latest look at Evercold’s setting, the Icebound Realm of the Fourth, and several of the locations players will visit during the expansion.
Bastion is Final Fantasy XIV Evercold’s first new job
Bastion will be a main tank job that fights using two enormous shields called skyltborg. A new trailer showed the Warrior of Light wielding the pair of greatshields both offensively and defensively.
Square Enix has not yet provided full details about Bastion’s abilities or how it will differ from Final Fantasy XIV’s existing tank jobs. A second new Evercold job is also expected to be revealed before the expansion launches.
The keynote additionally introduced several of Evercold’s new areas. These include Naglfar, the Realmship of Water; Hringhorni, the Realmship of Fire; and a new city called Fargarth.
Final Fantasy VII Remake crossover raid announced
Evercold will include an eight-player raid series titled Beyond the Lifestream, created as a crossover with the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
Yoshida was joined on stage by Final Fantasy VII Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi to announce the collaboration. Square Enix said the Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy VII development teams are working closely together to create the raid series.
Few story or gameplay details have been revealed, although the title suggests the raid could explore elements connected to the Lifestream and the wider mythology of Final Fantasy VII.
Evercold will also feature the previously announced Evangelion: Ghosts of Desire alliance raid series. Director, animator and designer Mahiro Maeda has joined the project as a special guest artist and designer.
Maeda previously worked as a concept artist and designer on Mad Max: Fury Road and held several senior creative roles on Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.
Evercold will give players more freedom
Square Enix is changing the structure of Final Fantasy XIV’s main scenario to give players more choice over the order in which they explore different areas and complete parts of the story.
A new Auto Content Balancing system will adjust enemy levels and dungeon difficulty to match the player’s progression, allowing the expansion’s different paths to be completed in a more flexible order.
Character customisation is also being expanded with a new colour picker, more detailed controls for features such as eyes and lips, and additional options including eye shadow.
Another new feature, Character Action Skins, will allow players to equip alternative animations for general actions such as Teleport and Warp. Square Enix plans to expand the system to support job action animations in later updates.
Final Fantasy XIV comes to Nintendo Switch 2 in August
Final Fantasy XIV will launch for Nintendo Switch 2 on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, with pre-orders now available through the Nintendo eShop.
The Free Trial, Starter Edition, Complete Edition and Dawntrail will all be available on Nintendo Switch 2. Square Enix will also offer an approximately one-month free subscription period on the platform to help manage the influx of new players and maintain server stability.
Final Fantasy XIV supports cross-platform play, meaning Nintendo Switch 2 players will be able to join the existing community across PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
Before that release, Patch 7.55 arrives on Tuesday, July 28. The update will add more Occult Crescent content, Phantom Weapons, Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures and new Allied Society quests.
More Final Fantasy XIV updates are on the way
A major overhaul of the Chocobo Companion system is planned for Patch 8.1. The update will revise chocobo raising and allow players to summon their chocobo companion to help during dungeon content.
Matchmaking will also be expanded through Same-Region Player Matching in the Patch 7.5x series. Players will eventually be matched across entire physical data centres rather than being restricted to individual logical data centres.
The system will launch in Japan in mid-October, with North America and Europe scheduled to follow.
A new Gold Saucer activity called Keybound Brawler will arrive on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. The Final Fantasy VII-themed typing minigame will support up to four players.
Square Enix also revealed an Evercold Collector’s Bundle containing an Evercold art box, Reaper figure, Ethos metal keychain, Köttr mini plush and Tapestry of the Fourth.
Its digital bonuses include the Crystal Skyltborg weapon for Bastion, a Vallhallar Odin mount and the Entreat Crystal emote. Pricing and pre-order information will be announced at a later date.
Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold is scheduled to launch in January 2027.
About the Author
Paul McNally has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade editing top-selling magazines and websites.
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