Final Fantasy XI expansion gets a release date

Famitsu reports Wings of the Goddess is coming in November

September 19, 2007

According to an issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu, the next expansion for Final Fantasy XI, Wings of the Goddess will be released on November 22. This fourth expansion will add new content to Square Enix's MMORPG, which currently caters to some 500,000 players.

The magazine also includes artwork by Final Fantasy series designer Yoshitaka Amano, showing some previously-seen concept images from the game, as well as an image of a Chocobo Knight.

Speculation has already arisen that the Chocobo Knight may be a new job available to players. It has previously been announced that Wings of the Goddess will bring at least one new job to Final Fantasy XI. The addition of a mounted job might be an interesting change to gameplay mechanics, as not all areas of the game are currently chocobo-equipped. It's also possible, that the Chocobo Knight is a new addition to the growing Chocobo breeding and racing system, or simply a group of non-playable characters (NPCs) in the expanded areas.

The images also show an image of what appears to be Atomos, a summon from Final Fantasy IX and an enemy in other games in the series. It's possible that Atomos will appear as a summonable avatar, but it's more likely that he will be the culprit behind the events that occur in the Wings of the Goddess storyline. This new expansion appears to take place in the past of Vana'diel, or at least incorporate historical elements. In previous games, Atomos's gaping mouth acts as a portal, and it's possible that he's responsible for the apparent bridge between times that will appear in Wings of the Goddess.

Famitsu shows artwork by Yoshitaka Amano that appears to depict a Chocobo Knight and Atomos.

While Famitsu tends to be a reliable source, we'll await an official announcement from Square Enix to confirm the release date and game details.