Square Enix just announced its biggest plans for the Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker expansion, detailing new jobs and how the old ones will change. The series of big reveals came during Eorzea’s usual pre-expansion Live Letter stream, where director and producer Naoki Yoshida and global community producer Toshio Murouchi spoke for nearly seven hours.

Final Fantasy 14’s community also gathered together to remember a special figure, voice actor Stephen Critchlow, who recently passed at age 54. Critchlow delivered a performance beloved by players who completed the Heavensward expansion, and news of his death has compelled the community to gather in Ishgard.

Related: Final Fantasy 14 Community Spotlight: The Rose Hall

stephen critchlow

Fans Gather In Honor Of Stephen Critchlow

Stephen Critchlow, the voice behind Count Edmont De Fortemps, has died at age 54. Critchlow’s legacy extended across a host of different mediums, including theatre, radio, audio dramas, film, television, and video games. He was famous for his roles in Doctor Who, The Archers, and Torchwood and even held parts in other RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Dragon Quest Heroes.

Critchlow’s role as the kind and gentle count in Heavensward stands out as one of the expansion’s most memorable performances, as evidenced by the outpouring of love from the community in the wake of his passing. Players gathered across global data centers to stand outside of his character’s home in Ishgard, holding vigils with the Wanderer's Campfire item.

Endwalker Details New Job Changes

Ahead of every expansion, Yoshida and the Final Fantasy 14 team share how upcoming battle content will change. This year, we’ll get two new jobs—Reaper and Sage—and other classes will see tweaks to old kits along with level 80+ abilities. The latest Live Letter detailed some of those job changes with a trailer, setting clear expectations on a couple but keeping things vague on others.

New DPS Reaper and barrier healer Sage got a brief look at their tooltips—the descriptions that actually reveal how their abilities will work. A couple of other classes shared peaks at those too, but Yoshida gave a little more of an in-depth look to jobs changing the most, like Monk or Summoner. It’s a bit like Christmas for Final Fantasy 14 players, but, just like every year, some folks are pretty upset over some changes while celebrating others.

FFXIV Reaction

Data Center Travel Delayed

Final Fantasy 14 has seen its biggest surge in popularity yet, and the server woes reflect that. The MMO is struggling to keep up with an increased demand on its infrastructure, and Yoshida has been transparent on the struggles of meeting the needs of players. Due to the strain and obstacles posed to upgrading server hardware during the pandemic, Final Fantasy 14’s development team confirmed they will not be able to implement the cross data center travel system in time for Endwalker. The ability to visit friends on other data centers will instead arrive post version 6.0.

Eorzea’s Merch Line Expands

The Live Letter didn’t just delight with new in-game goodies. In the stream, Yoshida showed off merchandise arriving in the Square Enix store dedicated to the MMO, and you can pre-order most of it now. There’s plenty of neat bits for your collection, but there’s also some strange stuff—like a Fat Cat back scratcher and a $1,000 Y’shtola doll.

Next: Kena Should Have Been An Actual Disney Game