Greetings, everyone!

Bayohne here, about to board a flight back to HQ after we've wrapped the first leg of the Stormblood media tour! We've been in San Francisco for the past several days showing the expansion to media, and letting them go hands-on with it. We'd love to share some of the experience of the U.S. leg of the tour with you all, so grab a snack and enjoy a look behind the scenes!

From the outside, the venue looks pretty normal, and you wouldn't know about the excitement happening within.

But when you step inside...

...you're transported into a space inspired by Kugane!

We would kick off each day with a presentation from Yoshi-P discussing Stormblood-related additions, adjustments, and the hands-on demo. (Project Manager M seemed to have hidden among the trees to grab this stealthy shot...)

After the presentation, the media were able to go hands-on with Stormblood!

They were able to try out all the jobs, including red mage and samurai, the new actions, and the swimming and diving features!

Between interviews, Yoshi-P would (secretly?) watch the media play the new content!

We had a lot of interviews during the event in this room! (Keep an eye out for this artwork in Stormblood!)

During the interviews, Yoshi-P could be seen holding onto this new Fat Chocobo head cushion. It was seriously the softest, squishiest, most comfortable thing. I grabbed it and did my best producer impression when he took a break. I volunteered to handle the next interview, but was quickly shooed out of his seat.

The venue also featured two special guests making their debut in origami form: red mage and samurai!

We also prepared a goody bag for each of the attendees as well!

We've wrapped up the U.S. leg of the tour, but now the team is headed to Europe for the next stop! Let's all keep Yoshi-P in our thoughts as he also has the Letter from the Producer LIVE on Monday too!

- Bayohne
Community Team