Hello, everyone!

Ali here from the Square Enix America Marketing team! This will be the first time you hear from me on our official blog, and I'm thrilled to recap all of the fun from PAX East 2024! Apologies for the wait! The sea veered our boat off course, leading us on an adventure on our way back from Boston.

Thank you so much to all of our Warriors of Light who visited the booth or attended the panel. If you weren't able to visit, I've got you covered...

FINAL FANTASY XIV Booth
We returned to PAX East in full force with a Dawntrail inspired booth, filled with lots of activities and goodies for adventurers old and new! The booth featured a Dawntrail-themed Photo Op, standees of our beloved Scions, and the Battle Challenge and New Player Experience. We even had some surprise moogle and loporrit appearances (Postingway (formerly Tweetingway) traveled all the way from the moon)!

All attendees at PAX could snag a Dawntrail-themed lanyard (oooh, double-sided), and some lucky Warriors of Light were able to grab a Dawntrail-themed bucket hat. We even spotted some Viera wearing their bucket hat while challenging Asura!

Speaking of the corrupted Manusya, Warriors of Light who were able to defeat her received an "I BEAT ASURA" T-shirt. Look at these amazing adventurers celebrating with some of the Scions!

Shall we dive deeper into some of these activities?

A Sea of Bucket Hats
To prepare for your travels to sunny Tural, we thought it necessary to prepare some Dawntrail-themed bucket hats for our Warriors of Light. I'm sure you'll recognize some of the adorable group pose stickers featured on the hats. These hats were very popular and usually disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Each time they did appear, we were pleasantly greeted with a sea of orange hats! 

Wouldst thou like to partake in a beverage with Urianger?
A trip to the markets of Tuliyollal wouldn't be complete without enjoying a fruity drink or a delicious taco. Thankfully, we had both! Attendees could snap a photo with some tropical props and one of our favorite Elezen: Urianger.

Keen-eyed adventurers may have spotted our little PAX East easter egg on the treasure map prop!

Urianger wasn't always alone though - our beloved moogle and loporrit would often make an appearance to meet and greet with adventurers!

A Selfie with the Scions
Adventurers could also snap a photo (or a selfie) with their favorite Scions posed against a gorgeous backdrop of Tuliyollal. We're pretty sure all of the Scions made it safely back to our offices...

I Beat Asura Battle Challenge
The battle challenge series returned to PAX East as eager Warriors of Light were challenged to test their mettle against Asura. Both veterans and sprouts grouped together to take on the formidable foe. Our staff were there to lend a helping hand (or to help put that healer Limit Break on some hot bars), and guided groups to victory! Groups that defeated Asura were able to receive their "I BEAT ASURA" T-shirt, featuring her likeness on the front and the FINAL FANTASY XIV logo proudly displayed on the back.

New Player Experience
We were overjoyed to welcome attendees interested in FINAL FANTASY XIV to the New Player Experience. Players could challenge Ifrit, Titan, or Garuda solo, or in a group with other sprouts, and walk away with a free copy of the FFXIV Starter Edition for PC! Some eager players even hopped right into the Battle Challenge after completing their trial! We had record attendance numbers for the New Player Experience this year, and we can't wait to see our new sprouts in Eorzea! 

Journey to Dawntrail: The 10 Year Adventure of FINAL FANTASY XIV
Naoki Yoshida took to the stage to reflect on our 10-year journey - thanking all of the Warriors of Light. We truly wouldn't be here without you! No livestream with Yoshi-P is complete without a few surprises, and viewers were treated to the reveal of the Dawntrail Collector's Edition, pre-order bonuses, and the official release date for Dawntrail (you've got one week Elden Ring enjoyers)!

Those who attended the panel also received an exclusive double-sided poster. One side featured the gorgeous Akihiko Yoshida Dawntrail artwork, while the other featured a view of all of the jobs, including our newest jobs arriving with Dawntrail: viper and pictomancer! If you couldn't watch it live, you should check out the archived video below or on our Twitch channel!

Hear, Feel, Survey 
We wanted to offer more ways to gather feedback at events and to hear directly from you! This year, attendees could participate in our PAX East survey which covered a variety of questions about their experience at our booth. Those who completed the survey received a random sticker of either G'raha Tia, Erenville, and Krile. We want to extend our deepest thanks to all of the attendees who participated. Your valuable feedback will help us make our future events even better!

Amazing Cosplay
As always, we were blown away by the amazing cosplayers who stopped by the booth. From Krile in her new pictomancer attire, to the powerful Oracle of Light, Ryne, we're always inspired by the hard work and creativity that goes into these amazing works of art! Here are just a few incredible photos we were able to snap at the show:

That should cover it for our PAX East recap! Thanks again to all of our Warriors of Light who attended PAX East or tuned in to the panel at home. We hope to see you at the next one!

- Ali
Marketing Team