Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Expansion Will Launch in July 2019

Popular MMO Final Fantasy XIV will receive its third expansion, Shadowbringers, on July 2, 2019, Square Enix has announced. At the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Paris, Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida revealed some of the content, including new areas, new playable race, a NieR: Automata alliance raid, and much more.

One of the new jobs, Gunbreaker, is a tank who you can see in action below:

The new playable race, called Viera, is described as “rabbit-like wardens of the wood.” The following reveal trailer offers a first look:

The new alliance raid, YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse, comes from a collaboration with NieR: Automata developers Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro. More information about the raid and Shadowbringers‘ content will be revealed at the Tokyo Fan Festival on March 23-24. In the meantime, here’s a summary of what’s been revealed so far:

New Job: The gunbreaker – master of the gunblade.
New Playable Race: The Viera – rabbit-like wardens of the wood.
Trust System: An all-new system allowing players to tackle Shadowbringers instanced dungeons with familiar NPCs by their side (excluding dungeons requiring more than 4 party members).
New Areas: Il Mheg–a lush, awe-inspiring vale, and the Rak’tika Greatwood–a sprawling forest of ancient, towering sentinels.
New Beast Tribe and Primal: The pixies and their almighty regent, Titania.
New Alliance Raid: YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse–from the minds of renowned NieR creators Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro.

Square Enix also announced a Collector’s Edition for Shadowbringers. Available for preorder starting February 6th, it includes:

Shadowbringers Special Art Box: A unique silver-inlaid box featuring an illustration by artist Yoshitaka Amano.
Dark Knight Figure: An impressive high-quality figure of the Warrior of Darkness as a dark knight.
Shadowbringers Art Book: An art book featuring behind-the-scenes illustrations and concept art from the development of Shadowbringers.
Shadowbringers Logo Cling: A reusable vinyl cling featuring the Shadowbringers logo.
Final Fantasy XIV Playing Cards: A deck of playing cards featuring artwork from A Realm Reborn through Shadowbringers.
Exclusive In-Game Items: Grani Mount, Wind-up Fran Minion, Revolver Gunbreaker Weapon.

Those who preorder any of Shadowbringers‘ editions will be granted early access to the content starting June 28th. They’ll also receive a Baby Gremlin Minion and Aetheryte Earring, which grants players a 30 percent increase in EXP up to level 70. Both items will be distributed starting March 1st.