The official Final Fantasy XIV Twitter account posted a status update that has fans already excited for next year: on February 5th, 2021 at 5:30pm PST (February 6th, 2021 at 1:30 GMT) will be an Announcement Showcase. According to the tweet below, they'll be "announcing cool things":

While no other information has been given other than event details, there's a very good chance that a brand new patch will be revealed during this showcase. Considering that event plans for Final Fantasy XIV had been scaled back or cancelled due to the pandemic, it's great to receive any exciting news regarding the MMORPG.

For those who have already invested in next-gen consoles, Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida has revealed his desire for the title to come to PS5 and he believes it could still come to Xbox consoles according to an interview published in July.

The most recent patch, Patch 5.4, will add several new quests and dungeons including a fight against Final Fantasy VII endgame superboss Emerald Weapon. Patch 5.2, Echoes of a Fallen Star, released on February 18th and featured new main quests, a new raid dungeon, new general dungeons, and VII's other endgame superboss Ruby Weapon. The previous Shadowbringers update, titled 5.1 "Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty," introduced a brand new NieR Automata-themed patch featuring new gear, a new dungeon, new game+, and the Fellowship.

Announced by Square Enix and Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida via a press release, Final Fantasy XIV has now surpassed 18 million registered players in total. This number is comprised of players across all of the game’s platforms which include PS4, PC, Mac, and even the PS3.

Meanwhile, be sure to check out our official review of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers here, as well as our E3 2019 interview with Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida here. Shadowbringers is available now for PS4 and PC on Amazon.