FFXIV Patch 6.5 Part 1 Arriving in ‘Early’ October

As part of the Letter from the Producer Live Part LXXVIII with Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio “Foxclon” Murouchi, the release windows for FFXIV patch 6.5 came up. It is called Growing Light, and it will appear in two parts. Part one will show up in “early” October 2023. Part two will show up in mid-January 2024. However, the presentation only went over “part one” of the patch.

A few details about the name also came up. In Japanese, there’s a hidden “zero” in it. This is because Zero will remain a major character and focus in the story for now.

There was also a new roadmap released, showing expected release windows for patches alongside the upcoming London and Tokyo FFXIV Fan Fests in October 2023 and January 2024.

Image via Square Enix

Prior to the release date reveal, we already knew one thing that would come up with the 6.5 patch. Square Enix confirmed the size of the free trial is increasing. It will now include content from two expansions. You could play the base game, Heavensward, and Stormblood once that update arrives. At the moment, only the base game and Stormblood can be played up to level 60.

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and the release window for patch 6.5 part 1 is early October 2023. The free trial will be extended when 6.5 appears. The Dawntrail expansion is in development for a Summer 2024 release. The 2023 Fan Festival will be held in Las Vegas between July 28-29, 2023. The full schedule for the event is online.