FFXIV 6.X Story Will Revolve Around The Thirteenth Shard

FFXIV's entire 6.X storyline will center around the thirteenth shard, as confirmed by Naoki Yoshida. Players have guessed as much since 6.1, Newfound Adventure, teased the appearance of a mysterious voidsent, but Yoshida's interview confirms that the 6.X arc will focus on what happened to the thirteenth shard, as well as the memories of feelings of those who were once human, but are now monsters.

The thirteenth shard is the first word the Ascians tried to rejoin, but unfortunately, through their efforts, everybody in that world became voidsents. Yoshida says in an Famitsu interview, with translation by Twitter user Audrey (@ aitaikimochi), "Patch 6.1 asks…'since we have already traversed to the world of the First, what would the other shards look like?" That's the starting point of the 6.X storyline.

Yoshida also adds that patch 7.0 is also in development simultaneously with patch 6.X, and depending on how 6.X shapes up to be, patch 7.0 could look very different. Players should expect to see some hints as to what 7.0 will contain in patch 6.5.

Patch 6.2 Buried Memories is expected to be released in late August. The next letter from the producer--a livestream where the FFXIV team announces updates and new features in upcoming patches--is scheduled to air on August 12 at 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET.