Square Enix has opened pre-orders for the first expansion of its MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward in North America and Europe. The physical disc or digital download of the game comes in one of three versions: a standard edition, a collector’s edition, and a Final Fantasy XIV Online bundle that packages the game with the expansion. Pre-ordering any edition nets players early access to Heavensward beginning June 19, 2015.
In addition to early access, all pre-orders receive exclusive in-game bonus items that include a Chocobo Chick Courier Minion, Baron Earrings, and a Baron Circlet. According to a GameStop employee on Reddit, and similar to their promotion for A Realm Reborn , the store is offering an exclusive, real-world cloth banner as an additional pre-order bonus.
Those looking for even more Heavensward goodies should look to the collector’s edition. This special version comes packaged in a box featuring artwork titled “Dragonsong War” by renowned Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano. Inside the box is a Heavensward artbook, an Eorzea in Motion – A Realm Revisited Blu-Ray disc, and a detailed Dragon Mount figure. The exclusive digital collector’s edition items are a Dark Knight Cecil-themed Baron Helm, a Wind-Up Kain Minion, and a majestic Flying Griffin Mount. It will also come with a Fantasia potion, which can be used to re-customize a character, if desired.
As cool as it may sound, the collector’s edition can currently only be found on the official Square Enix Online Store at the price of $129.99 USD. Whether or not it will become available via other stores like GameStop, Amazon or Best Buy remains to be seen. The bundle that includes A Realm Reborn and Heavensward does not yet have a pre-order option at most retailers outside of the Square Enix store, as well. As of this writing, Amazon.com does have the bundle listed, but it is currently “unavailable” for pre-order.
As the primary destination for the Heavensward collector’s edition and bundle options, the newly upgraded Square Enix Online Store has taken a heavy hit on the first day of pre-orders, temporarily shutting down across multiple regions. The Final Fantasy XIV marketing team has reached out via Twitter to let North American fans know they have the issue mostly under control.
North America: SE Online Store still experiencing heavy load, but additional servers have been brought online to alleviate the congestion.
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) March 16, 2015
Fans in Europe are not so lucky, as the European store has been taken down completely on the pre-order launch day. Per their Twitter updates, Square Enix Europe anticipates maintenance will be complete and the store back up sometime on March 17.
Products aimed at collectors like the Gold Edition Mario amiibo and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain collector’s edition have recently been selling out within minutes of pre-orders becoming available online. With limited product availability, resellers and scalpers continue to successfully get fans to pay extensive markups on marketplace sites like eBay. Given the current shopping climate, Final Fantasy collectors may not want to wait to place their Heavensward collector’s edition pre-orders once Square Enix’s store is back online.
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward becomes available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PC and Mac on June 23, 2015.
[Images courtesy Square Enix]
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated the early-access begins on June 17, and that the Fantasia potion is used to re-class a character instead of re-customize. The story has since been updated and the author regrets the error.