Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold Editions Compared: Which One to Buy

Quick answer

• Pre-orders open on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, and Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold launches on Tuesday, February 23, 2027. Early access for pre-order holders starts around 1 a.m. Pacific on Friday, February 19, 2027. Our launch story has the full dates.
• The $44.99 Standard Edition is the right pick for most players. Every edition includes the same pre-order bonuses and the same early access, so the cheapest one already gets you into the expansion four days early.
• The $64.99 Digital Collector’s Edition adds three in-game items: the Valhallar Odin mount, the Entreat Crystal emote and the Crystal Skyltborg, a weapon only bastions can equip.
• The $319.99 Collector’s Bundle is the full package: the Digital Collector’s Edition for Windows or Mac plus the $255 Collector’s Box of physical goods, sold only through the Square Enix Store.
• The $255 Collector’s Box contains no game at all. It is five physical items and nothing else, so buy it only if you already own the expansion or plan to buy the digital edition separately.

The four products at a glance

Every price comes from Square Enix’s official Evercold product page, which is also where the pre-order bonuses and the early access rules are published.

What the Digital Collector’s Edition adds

The Digital Collector’s Edition bundles the expansion with three in-game items:

• Valhallar Odin Mount. A ride inspired by the Eidolon Odin from Final Fantasy XIII.
• Entreat Crystal Emote. A gesture built around Azem’s crystal.
• Crystal Skyltborg. The crystal shield that Final Fantasy players have wanted for years, reworked as a bastion weapon. Only bastions can equip it.

Square Enix delivers these by moogle letter, one at a time, starting when the early access window opens on Friday, February 19. You get nothing on launch day itself if you miss that first window.

What is actually inside the $255 Collector’s Box

The physical box is five items: the Evercold Special Art Box, an Expertly Crafted Reaper Figure, an Ethos Metal Keychain, a Kottr Mini Plush and a woven hanging of the Fourth.

Read that list again with the product page’s warning in mind. The Collector’s Box does not include a copy of Evercold, it does not include the in-game items, and it does not include the pre-order bonuses. That makes the box a display piece for people who already bought the game.

The pre-order bonuses every edition includes

Pre-order any of the three editions and the bonus list applies to your account across the whole expansion:

• Wind-up Kottr Minion. A handcrafted replica of a member of the feline Kettir race, first seen in Evercold. It follows you around and, in Square Enix’s words, is a vanity pet with no effect on your attributes.
• Halone’s Earring. A 30 percent increase to experience earned from defeating enemies, for Disciples of War or Magic only, and only from level 1 through level 100. It is the reason to level a fresh job to 100 in the first weeks.
• Early access. Four days of Evercold content before launch day.

Square Enix notes that both the minion and the earring may become available another way later, so there is no guarantee that pre-ordering is the only route to them.

Early access, and how to qualify

Early access is scheduled to begin around 1 a.m. Pacific on Friday, February 19. Two conditions apply. You must have pre-ordered, and you must have registered Dawntrail and completed certain quests, because the early content builds on that expansion.

Pre-orders open on Wednesday, November 4, so the order of operations is: buy first, then clear the Dawntrail requirement before that Friday.

Where to buy on each platform

Evercold is listed for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, Windows and Mac, and it also appears on Steam. The Mog Station now takes digital pre-orders for Windows and Mac, and it registers the pre-order bonuses to your service account automatically, which saves a support ticket later.

Console players have a slightly awkward split to make. Square Enix says PlayStation, Xbox, Switch 2 and Steam players should buy the Collector’s Box on the Square Enix Store and then pick up the Digital Collector’s Edition on their own platform. The reason is simple: the Collector’s Bundle is a Windows or Mac license. Platform extras are small but real: pre-order on the PlayStation Store and you get PlayStation avatars when early access begins, and Xbox players can set the Evercold gamerpics on their profile.

What you need to play

Registering any edition grants you Evercold plus the earlier Endwalker and Dawntrail expansions. Two things follow from that. A subscription is required, because Square Enix states that a subscription fee is needed to play. And the expansions cannot be registered from the free trial, which now includes Shadowbringers and runs up to patch 5.58. In other words, the free trial is for testing the game, not for owning the expansion.

Which one should you buy?

• Returning player who knows the game? The $44.99 Standard Edition. You get early access, the minion and the earring.
• Player who wants the mount and the crystal weapon? The $64.99 Digital Collector’s Edition, which is $20 more and adds three permanent items.
• Collector on PC or Mac? The $319.99 Collector’s Bundle, which is the only product that puts the physical box and the digital upgrade together.
• Collector on console? Buy the Collector’s Box on the Square Enix Store and the Digital Collector’s Edition on your platform, exactly as Square Enix recommends.
• Player who wants nothing physical? The Standard Edition. Nothing in the box changes how the expansion plays.

Questions readers keep asking

Do I need Dawntrail to buy Evercold?
To play the early access content, yes: Square Enix requires a registered Dawntrail and certain quests completed before you can enter early access.

When does early access start?
Around 1 a.m. Pacific on Friday, February 19, four days before the launch on February 23, 2027.

What does the Collector’s Box come with?
Five physical items: the Evercold Special Art Box, an Expertly Crafted Reaper Figure, an Ethos Metal Keychain, a Kottr Mini Plush and a woven hanging of the Fourth. It does not include the game.

What does Halone’s Earring actually do?
It raises experience gained from defeating enemies by 30 percent, for Disciples of War or Magic, and the bonus applies between level 1 and level 100.

Can I register Evercold with the free trial?
No. Square Enix says registering an expansion needs a way to play the full game, and the free trial does not qualify.

Does the expansion include the earlier expansions?
Yes. Registering Evercold also grants Endwalker and Dawntrail.

Which platforms is Evercold on?
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, Windows, Mac and Steam.

Is there anything new to grind?
Two new jobs arrive with the expansion, the tank bastion and the physical ranged DPS zephyr, and the level cap goes from 100 to 110. The bastion is the new tank job. New jobs can only be played in Evolved mode, one of the two new battle systems.

For example, the $20 gap between the Standard and Digital Collector’s editions is the whole upgrade decision. The price ladder here rewards one decision and punishes another. The $64.99 Digital Collector’s Edition costs $20 more than the $44.99 Standard Edition for three permanent items, which is a normal, defensible upgrade. The Collector’s Bundle, by contrast, costs $319.99 to bundle a $64.99 digital edition with a $255 box of shelf weight, and Square Enix is upfront that the box alone contains no game and no bonuses. That makes the bundle a collector purchase, not a better purchase, and the two-thousand-dollar decision that most readers face is simply whether the mount and the crystal weapon are worth $20. For everyone else the Standard Edition already carries the two bonuses and the early access that matter for the first four days.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report