Evercold Rising
Evercold — the eighth major expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, revealed at Fanfest North America in Anaheim on 24 April 2026. January release confirmed.
Week of 25 April 2026
Yoshida took to the stage in Anaheim on Friday and gave the genre its most significant single-day announcement in months: Final Fantasy XIV's next expansion has a name. Evercold will arrive in January, and with it a new combat philosophy, an Evangelion alliance raid, a Nintendo Switch 2 port, and a level cap expansion that may not follow the usual ten-level pattern. That alone would have made this a notable week, but it did not stand alone — ESO opened its Night Market event zone on Wednesday, WoW's Patch 12.0.5 landed on Monday to broadly positive reception, and SWTOR edged closer to its Legacy of the Sith finale with the 7.9 date expected any day. The genre is in motion, and the shape of 2026's second half is beginning to come into focus.
Final Fantasy XIV
The North American Fanfest dominated the week. The keynote on Friday delivered the expansion reveal fans had been anticipating, along with a density of additional announcements that went well beyond what most had expected.
FFXIV 8.0: Evercold — January 2026 - The eighth expansion is titled Evercold, confirmed for a January release. The Polygon recap provides the fullest available summary of the keynote.Two new jobs are coming in 8.0: one tank and one physical ranged DPS. Further details are held back for the Berlin Fanfest in July.Concept art shown for Evercold's zones — described as varied in environment despite the name, with a new cat tribe among the allied peoples revealed.
Combat Overhaul: Reborn and Evolved Modes - All existing jobs (except Blue Mage and Beastmaster) will use Reborn Mode, an update that refines their existing feel. New jobs from 8.0 onward — along with Blue Mage and Beastmaster — will use Evolved Mode, a redesigned combat framework intended to reduce button bloat and introduce new rotation logic. Specific Evolved Mode mechanics will be detailed at the Berlin and Tokyo Fanfests.
Character Customisation - Significant improvements to the character creation and edit screens: full posability (rather than rotation-only preview), layered face paint options, expanded hair and skin tones, detailed eye attributes including iris size and shadowing, gear toggles for outfit customisation, and new character action skins offering unique idle and ability animations.Gear reflection across jobs is also changing: players will no longer need to grind glamour gear per job, as the system will reflect the highest-level items held. The full patch site has additional detail on systems going into 7.5.
Weekly Progression Framework - The daily duty system will be replaced by a new weekly progression framework in 8.0. Players select from a visible menu of available activities (dungeon clears, main scenario quests, side quests), each awarding activity points. Accumulating points unlocks new gear, replacing the Allagan Tomestone system. Some missions are repeatable; main scenario quests are single-instance. A feature to carry over unused points from the previous week is under consideration.
Evangelion Alliance Raid - A 24-player alliance raid developed in collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion is confirmed for 8.0, with the original Evangelion producer involved in the project. Details on raid structure and setting were minimal at the keynote — more is expected in Berlin. Coverage at Polygon.
Nintendo Switch 2 Port — August 2026 - FFXIV is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in August 2026, confirmed at the keynote. This mirrors the Xbox Series announcement at the previous Fanfest and continues the game's platform expansion. The official Fanfest site has streaming details for the Saturday day-two sessions.
Free Trial Expanded to Shadowbringers - Coinciding with Patch 7.5, the free trial now includes A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers — four expansions up to level 80, at no cost. Restrictions remain on the in-game marketplace. Details on the site.
Patch 7.5 — Trail to the Heavens — 28 April - The final Dawntrail patch launches this coming Tuesday. It brings the first part of the main scenario conclusion (Helmarut, a sundered Ascian, is central to the story), the Beastmaster limited job, The Clyteum dungeon set in abandoned Garlean ruins, the Enuo trial (Normal and Extreme), and the closing chapter of the Echoes of Vana'diel alliance raid — Windurst: The Third Walk, in which Shantotto appears as a boss. Patch 7.55 (the second scenario part) follows in early September.
The Night Market opens in Fargrave — ESO's first dedicated event zone, live from 29 April to 17 June 2026.
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Night Market opened its gates on Wednesday, marking the first time ESO has deployed a dedicated event zone rather than simply adding events to the existing world. Early community response appears cautiously positive, with players noting the novelty of the faction-competition structure.
The Night Market — Now Live (until 17 June) - Set in the Oblivion realm of Fargrave, the Night Market requires players to choose one of three factions and compete in a series of PvE gauntlet challenges, with exclusive cosmetic and currency rewards. A Golden Pursuits campaign runs in parallel until 17 June.The market is free and open to all players regardless of ESO subscription status. ZeniMax have described it as experimental — feedback gathered during this first iteration will inform whether and how the format returns.
Season Zero Continues - Season Zero: Dawn and Dusk runs until 8 July. The Tamriel Tomes reward track and Gold Coast Bazaar (earning Trade Bars via Twitch drops) are both active. The Vengeance Campaign PvP testing period ran 20–27 April, offering an updated ruleset and new PvP progression rewards.
Update 50 on PTS - Update 50 remains on the Public Test Server ahead of its season-one launch. Key additions include a Thieves Guild story set in Glenumbra (the first new story zone in Season One), The Sage's Vault puzzle dungeon, a Sheogorath questline, dynamic encounter improvements, and the overland Challenge Difficulty system.
Patch 12.0.5 — Void Assaults arrive in WoW: Midnight's Everson Woods and Zul'Aman, alongside new Ritual Sites and the Voidforge crafting system.
World of Warcraft
Patch 12.0.5 arrived on Monday and has settled into the game without major incident. The Void Assaults in particular have attracted a strong turnout in the first days, which Blizzard will likely use to inform the cadence of future invasion events.
Patch 12.0.5 — In Review - Void Assaults (zone invasions in Everson Woods and Zul'Aman), Ritual Sites (Delve-style solo and small-group PvE), the Voidforge gear transmutation system, and Decor Duel (a hide-and-seek decorating activity with its own achievement track) are all live. Story Mode and Raid Finder for the March on Quel'Danas raid are also open. Full notes at Blizzard.
Hotfixes — Week of 21 April - A busy hotfix week corrected a range of Decor Duel exploits (players were trapping seekers at spawn), addressed Marksmanship Hunter double-passive bugs, fixed Holy Paladin damage underperformance, and reduced damage in the Crown of the Cosmos encounter (Gravity Collapse down 10%). The log is updated daily.
Mists of Pandaria Classic - The classic progression server continues running alongside Midnight. No major content updates this week, but Timewalking dungeon scaling issues were corrected in the cross-version hotfix pass.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
SWTOR has been comparatively quiet this week, in the manner of a game holding its breath before something significant. The 7.9 date announcement has not yet arrived, though the Q1 producer letter indicated it is imminent.
Relics of the Gree — 28 April to 5 May - The Relics of the Gree in-game event begins on Monday, sending players to Ilum's Western Ice Shelf to investigate the ancient Gray Secant starship. The full April events calendar is on the official site.
Master the Fight: Cargo Transport Bundle - A limited subscription bundle launched on 21 April and runs until 9 June, including the GDU CGL Droid Carrier mount, a droid companion, utility droids, unique dyes, and Cartel Coins — framed as a six-month subscriber offer.
May the 4th — Details PendingDouble XP, item sales, and a subscriber login reward are confirmed for the Star Wars Day celebration. Specifics are due in late April. Details will appear on the news page when published.
Game Update 7.9 — Coming This SpringThe Legacy of the Sith finale — featuring the three-way conflict between Darth Jadus, Darth Malgus, and Shae Vizla — has no confirmed date as of Friday morning, but producer Keith Kanneg's Q1 letter described it as a spring release. The 7.9 developer livestream will also include the first concrete 8.0 feature details.
Guild Wars 2
A quieter week for ArenaNet by comparison. Super Adventure Festival continues, and a small balance hotfix corrected an Evoker ability interaction introduced by last week's patch.
Super Adventure Festival — Ongoing until 5 May - The festival is in its second week. The new partially submerged test zone has been well received by the community, with several players noting it adds genuine exploration value rather than simply repackaging existing content. Full details on the wiki.
22 April Hotfix - Addressed an Evoker issue where Familiar's Blessing quickness was granting an unintended 175-second duration (reduced from the erroneous value), and corrected Specialized Elements' empowered skill recharge — down from a 50% reduction to 33%, addressing a condition-damage Evoker build that had become markedly over-tuned since the 14 April patch. A minor jukebox track fix (Track 31: Deep Depths had gone missing) was also included.
Neverwinter
A notable community conversation this week, prompted by a long-form video deep dive into the game's current health and direction.
Can Neverwinter Survive Its Own History? - A 30-minute investigative video by Deadmano, published on 21 April, has generated significant discussion around the game's struggle with accumulated content weight, power creep, and the challenge of onboarding new players to a title with over a decade of legacy systems. Creative Director Randy Mosiondz is interviewed in the piece, discussing the new Quick Start system (designed to place fresh characters directly into midgame-relevant content), ongoing masterwork rework, and technical stability work. The video is on YouTube and is worth the time for anyone interested in the game's trajectory.Cryptic Studios continues under the returning leadership of former CEO Jack Emert, with no specific new content announced but the studio's direction described by Emert as a deliberate return to the games' core identities.
New World: Aeternum
The wind-down continues. The April quality-of-life package is fully applied, and the remaining community is making use of the expanded system limits in what amounts to a farewell lap of Aeternum.
April QoL Active - Umbral limit raised to 100,000 per week, gold cap increased to 10 million, daily Gypsum acquisition multiplied tenfold. May changes — including a weekly Mutation limit of 100 and a six-hour Soul Trial rotation — are next. The full wind-down roadmap at Icy Veins.
Marks of Fortune cease to be purchasable from 20 July. Servers close 31 January 2027.
Broader Genre News
Honor of Kings: World — Western Alpha Opens - TiMi Studio Group's large-scale Chinese fantasy MMORPG has launched in China and opened Western alpha sign-ups this week. Early reports from those accessing Chinese servers describe a polished, large-budget production. No firm Western release date is confirmed. Sign-up details via Massively.
Neverness to Everness — Worldwide Launch 29 April - Not strictly a traditional MMORPG, but the open-world action RPG from Infold Games launches globally on PC and mobile this coming Tuesday. Described as a contemporary urban fantasy with MMO-adjacent online features, it has attracted crossover interest from MMO audiences and bears watching for its player numbers at launch.
Looking Ahead
FFXIV Patch 7.5 arrives Tuesday, and for anyone with an interest in the game's story the Beastmaster is immediately available to unlock. The Berlin Fanfest on 25–26 July will add the next layer of Evercold detail — job specifics, zone previews, and presumably more on the Evangelion raid. ESO's Night Market is live now and running until mid-June; the first proper verdict on whether the event zone format works as intended should emerge over the next fortnight. In SWTOR, 7.9's date is overdue and the community is watching the news page closely. And with WoW's patch now bedded in, Blizzard's content team will presumably be deep into whatever follows 12.0.5 — summer major patches have historically been the series' most substantial mid-expansion drops.
