Evercold’s inaugural 8-player raid, Beyond the Lifestream, brings FFXIV and FF7 together at last.

Square Enix has unveiled the first eight-player raid for Final Fantasy 14, titled Beyond the Lifestream, marking an exciting collaboration with Final Fantasy 7. During the Berlin Fan Fest, FF14 producer Naoki Yoshida and FF7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi shared insights about this partnership, which follows the introduction of the Bastion job and some new features coming to the Gold Saucer before the Evercold expansion.

This FF14 x FF7 raid will consist of three tiers, with the initial segment launching in patch 8.01, shortly after Evercold debuts in January 2027. Players can tackle the raid at various difficulty levels, including normal, savage, and a new intermediate mode. The narrative is co-written by Motomu Toriyama, known for his work on Final Fantasy 13 and the FF7 Remake, alongside the FF14 scenario team. Kazushige Nojima, who has contributed to several Final Fantasy titles, including Rebirth and the original FF7, will oversee the story. Tetsuya Nomura is on board as the art design supervisor, ensuring that the raid’s monsters and bosses capture the essence of Final Fantasy 7.

While Hamaguchi kept specific story details under wraps, he hinted that many beloved FF7 characters will appear throughout the raid series. This crossover approach has become a hallmark of FF14, which has previously featured large-scale raids like the 24-person Ivalice series linked to Final Fantasy 12 and another series connected to NieR Automata. The Dawntrail expansion also included a crossover with Final Fantasy 11, and Evercold will introduce a 24-player raid in collaboration with Evangelion.

Before concluding their presentation, Hamaguchi and Yoshida announced an exciting new feature related to FF7: a Gold Saucer addition. Starting October 28, the FF7 Gold Saucer will be integrated into FF14’s Gold Saucer, introducing a new activity called Keybound Brawler. This typing game allows up to three players to compete, with plans for additional “typing challenges” in future updates. Yoshida mentioned that the format is flexible enough to incorporate themes from other collaborations, with Hamaguchi teasing a potential Dragon Quest crossover. The first reward set for Keybound Brawlers includes glamor items featuring costumes for Barret and Tifa, although Barret’s glamor won’t include his iconic Gatling gun arm, which can be added as a fashion accessory.

Final Fantasy 14 Evercold is set to launch in January for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

Chocobo in the dungeon.