While not included in the upcoming expansion, Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker will receive a post-launch patch with a new mode that vaguely sounds like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing called Island Sanctuary. In an interview with IGN, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida shared more details about this upcoming mode and what you can and can't do.
Details for the Island Sanctuary mode remain sparse, especially since it's not planned to be released until after the Endwalker expansion is released in November. But we did know that you can tend to animals and crops similar to a farming sim.
Speaking with IGN, Yoshida elaborated further by explaining in Japanese it's vaguely called "pioneering of a deserted island" which the team translated into Island Sanctuary. "There are elements of pioneering and building things," Yoshida revealed. "So you would have a facility that you build or a farm that you can cultivate or you can have animals there." But as far as any ties to the main game, it's completely optional.
"You can leave it as-is if you want to let the weeds grow out of control, that's perfectly fine. Or if you want to go there and make it your own, that's perfectly fine as well." There is also a social element to Island Sanctuary where you can invite friends and "idly chat," if you so desire.
Yoshida joked that hardcore raid content players might find the mode "pointless" since there are no objectives, but this is meant to be a kind of reprieve. And while players have home estates already they can customize, Yoshida added that "With Island Sanctuary we're trying to accomplish things that you can't do in your regular estate."
It will be a while until we can finally see Island Sanctuary in action, but a social-focused mode divorced from the MMORPG grind sounds pretty appealing.
Final Fantasy 14 is on a hot streak, celebrating 24 million registered players in 2021. For more, check out IGN's full hands-on preview for Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.