The Nico Nico Chokaigi 2 event is in full swing at the Makuhari Messe Tokyo and Square Enix is holding a large Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn stage event in collaboration with Windows 8. 

During yesterday's part of the event livestreamed on Nico Nico quite a few interesting information were revealed as director and producer Naoki Yoshida (disguised as a white-haired miqo'te for the occasion) answered questions from the fans.

Here is a summary of the information that was shared (I may have missed something, but I think I got most of it. You can find further info from day two of the event here):

  • The game's release window has been confirmed for this summer simultaneously for PC and PS3.
  • A release for the PS4 is very possible, as the team would like to reach an audience as wide as they can. A final decision will be taken when the time is right.
  • There will be new music created by Nobuo Uematsu (Yoshida already confirmed this when I recently interviewed him).
  • There are plans to release the soundtrack. It may be part of the collector's edition.
  • New TV commercials are in production for all the different markets: Japan, North America and Europe. They will debut in late May or early June.
  • The current phase of the beta includes approximately 580,000 people, and many more will be added with phase 3.
  • Yoshida can't say when beta phase 3 will start exactly, as it depends on Sony's certification of the PS3 client (Edit: This was rectified during day 2 of the event, as you can read here).
  • The new Benchmark software that will include character creation is in development and will be released between phase 3 and phase 4.
  • Square Enix is planning to release collectibles related to the game after launch.
  • A new organization called "Clan of Dawn" (Akatsuki no Ketsumei) will play an important role in the story of the new game. A new primary NPC named Alfino (Edit: an official transliteration had been provided, and his name will be Alphinaud) is a member of the clan and will be voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana (you can see the character's portrait below).

FFXIV_Alfino

  • Minfilia (a relevant character in the Ul'dah original storyline of Final Fantasy XIV, you can check my story recap column if you want to know who she is) will play a very relevant role in the storyline of A Realm Reborn.
  • Thancred (again, you can check my story recap column to learn about him) will be voiced by Yuichi Nakamura a very popular voice actor in Japan that lent his vocals cords to many relevant characters like Alto Saotome in Macross Frontier and Cid Raines in Final Fantsy XIII.
  • The final location of the Gold Saucer is still undecided.
  • A smartphone companion app will be released allowing players to access character status, a database, their friend list and features related to the Free Company.
  • The PvP Coliseum will be added during phase 4 of the beta, but all PvP points earned will be reset at release to be fair to those not participating to the beta test.
  • Even those that didn't play the original Final Fantasy XIV will able to enjoy the story, that will be more similar to a classic Final Fantasy game.
  • At the beginning there won't be Japanese-style costumes like Kimono, but when the visual style of the game will be solidified, adding different styles will be considered.