FFXIV Lands on Switch 2 August 4 With 117GB Install, Separate Subscription
Square Enix has locked in August 4, 2026 as the release date for Final Fantasy XIV on Nintendo Switch 2, confirming pricing, a free trial and a hefty 117GB install size during the FFXIV Fan Festival 2026 keynote in Berlin. Pre-orders opened the same day on the Nintendo eShop, giving Switch 2 owners their first real look at what joining Eorzea on Nintendo’s hybrid console will actually cost — in dollars, subscription fees and storage space.
Three Paid Editions Plus a Free Trial on Day One
Final Fantasy XIV Online’s Starter Edition is priced at $19.99 / £11.99, while the Complete Edition costs $59.99 / £44.99 (pre-order price: $41.99 / £31.49) and the Complete Collector’s Edition sits at $139.99 / £87.99, with a pre-order discount bringing that flagship bundle down to $97.99 / £61.59. Square Enix is also selling the Dawntrail expansion separately for existing players moving over to Switch 2.
Alongside the paid tiers, Final Fantasy XIV will require its own subscription fee in addition to needing to be purchased like any other platform, but the Free Trial will be available on the platform starting on day one. Square Enix is softening the launch with a grace period: the first month will be free for all as a stability test so the servers can be load-tested before regular billing kicks in.
A Separate Switch 2 Subscription, Even for Existing Players
Anyone hoping to simply carry over an existing PC, PlayStation or Xbox account will need to budget for a second bill. If you already play XIV and want to keep playing on other platforms and Switch 2, you will need a new Switch 2-specific XIV subscription. The one concession is on price: users subscribed to other platforms can get a 50 percent discount on the subscription price on the Switch 2, and that fee doesn’t stack with a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
117GB Makes FFXIV the Biggest Single Switch 2 Game Yet
Storage is the other headline number. As for game download, the estimated file size is listed as 117GB. That single figure now edges out every other standalone Switch 2 release, including Square Enix’s own Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and trails only the three-game Kingdom Hearts Collection bundle in overall size.
The bloat comes down to how MMOs age rather than any single culprit. Final Fantasy XIV Online isn’t a single game in any traditional sense — it’s five complete expansions stacked on top of a full base game, and every purchaser installs all of it regardless of edition, since Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, Endwalker and Dawntrail all ship together on Switch 2. With a 256GB console, that single title alone can eat up close to half the available drive space before a second game is even considered.
Read also: Switch 2 File Sizes: FF14 Hits 117.2GB, Xenoblade 2 Edition Jumps to 45.8GB
30fps Target and Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls
Performance-wise, Square Enix is being upfront that Switch 2 won’t match its home-console counterparts. The Switch 2 version targets a stable 30 frames per second — half the framerate of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida acknowledged the engine’s limits in crowded areas, noting that town areas, where dozens or hundreds of player characters are rendered simultaneously, may dip below 30fps due to the CPU load.
On the input side, Nintendo’s new hardware brings a genuine quality-of-life option: the Switch 2 version supports the Joy-Con 2’s optical sensor as a mouse replacement, giving players a cursor-based control option without plugging in external hardware. It’s a neat fit for an MMO built around hotbars and menus, though it’s aimed more at handheld convenience than competitive raiding.
Evercold Expansion and PS4 Sunset Loom in January 2027
The Berlin keynote wasn’t only about the Switch 2 port. Square Enix today revealed brand-new information about Evercold, the sixth expansion for its critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV Online, set to launch in January 2027, alongside a new tank job and a crossover raid series tied to the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. Yoshida also used the event to flag the platform’s long-term roadmap, with PlayStation 4 support scheduled to end around Patch 8.3 as the team shifts its technical focus toward newer hardware, Switch 2 included.
For Australian and New Zealand players who’ve watched Final Fantasy XIV thrive on PC and PlayStation for over a decade, August 4 marks the first time Nintendo’s own hardware gets a proper seat at the table — provided local eShop pricing lands close to the US and UK figures and players are ready to clear out a serious chunk of storage beforehand.
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