Endwalker, the next expansion for Final Fantasy 14, is due to release in the fall of this year, according to a new announcement, and according to Square Enix, will be a major milestone in the game's history, bringing the current story to a close.

The reveal was made at the FFXIV showcase, where the game's director, Naoki Yoshida, revealed that the new expansion would be wrapping up the current story, which spans from A Realm Reborn all the way through to Shadowbringers. It'll also be wrapping up the entire story so far from the last 10 years.

The tale of Hydaelyn and Zodiark that began in A Realm Reborn will reach its conclusion in #Endwalker!

Don't worry, our adventures in #FFXIV are far from over. As they say, the end of one story always leads to the beginning of another… pic.twitter.com/Wxyf26GEzT

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) February 6, 2021

Starting with patch 6.1, the game will enter an entirely new adventure, separate from the Zodiark-Hydaelyn saga, according to Yoshida. This has lead to some speculation that Yoshida could be departing the game to focus on Final Fantasy 16, where he also serves as producer. However, Yoshida confirmed he would "not be going anywhere."

But I want to assure everyone I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving the project. I look at Final Fantasy 14 as my life work, or at least until the president tells me to stop, I personally feel that I'm probably going to end up being with Final Fantasy 14 my whole life.