• Final Fantasy 14 Online's next expansion, Evercold, launches in January 2027
• The MMORPG is also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in August
• Existing subscribers will need to pay for a separate subscription to play on Switch 2

Square Enix has announced Evercold, the sixth Final Fantasy 14 Online expansion launching in January 2027, alongside a Nintendo Switch 2 release, but there's a big catch.

The news comes from FF14 NA FanFest, where the game producer and director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida unveiled Evercold's first teaser trailer. It will kick off a new era with the "Godless Realms Saga" story arc following the conclusion of the game's Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga.

Yoshi-P also announced that the critically acclaimed, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) will finally be coming to Switch 2 in August.

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However, while players won't need to purchase a Nintendo Switch Online membership to play, they will need to buy a separate FF14 subscription even if they already play on another platform.

This means, if you're playing on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox with a subscription, you'll still need to pay for a subscription on Switch 2. So you'll essentially be paying double if you want to play on the go.

"After discussions with Nintendo, it was decided that the Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy 14 would require a separate subscription," said Yoshi-P via translator Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. "Again, this was decided after many months of discussions with Nintendo, and I understand that this is different to how we’ve done things before."

There's no release date for the Switch 2 edition just yet, but Square Enix is planning an early access period to test server stability before launching the full game.

Alongside this, Yoshi-P also revealed 'Evangelion - Ghosts of Desire', the new alliance raid crossover series with the hit anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, that will arrive alongside Evercold, as well as some massive changes to the MMO's battle system overhaul with the introduction of the 'Reborn' and 'Evolved' modes.

Reborn mode will be based on the current combat system and Job mechanics, while Evolved mode "offers greater emphasis on job identity", updating combat rotations and changing some abilities. However, Evolved will only apply to existing Jobs, not the two new Tank and physical ranged DPS Jobs that will arrive with Evercold.

The expansions will also overhaul gear progression with 'Adventurer Activity', which will change from a daily to a weekly-based reward system, expanded character customization - but no butt sliders, according to Yoshi-P - a level cap increase from 100 to 110, and much more.

Additionally, with the release of Patch 7.5 today, the MMO's free trial is expanding to include Shadowbringers. This means all content from up to Patch 5.58 will be offered at no extra cost, including the base game, A Realm Reborn, and the Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers expansions.

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Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at TechRadar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as GameSpot, NME, and GamesRadar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X.