Wizardry Variants Daphne x Final Fantasy XI Collab Dated July 30 to September 10, Abyss Mask Follows in August
The date landed on July 24, 2026: July 30 to September 10, six weeks, both ends of the window published in the same post. Three weeks earlier the same crossover had no date at all, only a teaser image and the word summer.
One link in that chain is still open. The Final Fantasy XI half, an Abyss Mask handed to every character that logs in, was dated to "August 2026" and nothing narrower. As of August 1, Square Enix has published no start date, no end date and no campaign name for it.
Four moves, three weeks, two companies
| Date (2026) | Time | Who posted | What was announced | What was withheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 3 | 12:03 JST / 03:03 UTC | Drecom, press release plus @Wiz_Daphne_en | Collaboration exists, "this summer", teaser visual featuring Cait Sith | Dates, roster, event name, the Final Fantasy XI side |
| July 13 | not stated | Square Enix, PlayOnline | The crossover is bilateral and runs in Final Fantasy XI too | Dates, item name, campaign period |
| July 24 | 13:31 JST / 04:31 UTC | Drecom, official accounts | Start July 30, end September 10, Abyss Mask for Final Fantasy XI players in August | Roster, event name, recruitment mechanic, Final Fantasy XI campaign dates |
| July 30 | JST | Drecom, press release plus microsite | Launch, event name, roster, collab PV | Final Fantasy XI campaign dates |
No press release accompanied the July 24 reveal. Drecom's English product news index for July 2026 carries exactly three items: the July 3 teaser, an unrelated anime announcement filed the same day, and the July 30 launch release. The dates went out on the official accounts and on the collaboration site only, which is why the single most-cited moment of this campaign leaves no trace in the publisher's own archive.
<!-- image: July 3 teaser visual featuring Cait Sith. Save from the Drecom July 3 release to /images/articles/wizardry-daphne-ffxi-collab-date/teaser-cait-sith.jpg -->What the July 24 post carried, and what it withheld
Two dates and one item. Start July 30, 2026 JST. End September 10, 2026, later refined by the launch release to 12:59 JST, which is 03:59 UTC and September 9 at 8:59 PM ET. The Abyss Mask, modelled on the mask worn by the Masked Adventurer, the player character of Wizardry Variants Daphne, goes to Final Fantasy XI players during an August campaign.
That is the correction worth making to every piece written on July 24, including this one in its first version: the duration was never an open question. The end date shipped in the same breath as the start date. What stayed sealed was the payload. No roster, no event name, no word on how the crossover adventurers would be acquired, and no dates for the Final Fantasy XI campaign.
One Final Fantasy XI character had been shown, three weeks earlier: Cait Sith, from the Wings of the Goddess expansion. Cait Sith turned out not to be one of the three adventurers the event added. Teaser art and roster were separate disclosures, four weeks apart.
The Final Fantasy XI half is still undated
Square Enix posted "Announcing the Wizardry Variants Daphne × FINAL FANTASY XI Collaboration Event!" on PlayOnline on July 13, 2026. That post confirms the crossover runs in Final Fantasy XI. It carries no dates, no item name and no campaign period, which is worth stating because it is routinely cited for details it does not contain.
The item name and the eligibility rule both come from the July 24 reveal instead. Every Final Fantasy XI character that logs in during the campaign period receives the Abyss Mask. No purchase, no Wizardry Variants Daphne account, no crossover progress required.
Expected. August 2026, exact window unpublished. That is the wording as of August 1, with the month already running. It is the only piece of this announcement that has not landed.
<!-- image: FFXI Abyss Mask or the Masked Adventurer's mask. Pending Square Enix campaign art; leave empty until the August campaign is published -->What the two games actually are
Wizardry Variants Daphne is a free-to-play 3D first-person dungeon crawler on a grid, with turn-based party combat and adventurers acquired from "remains" bought at the Jeweler or recovered in the Ruins. It is developed by Studio 2Pro and published by Drecom, a distinction that gets flattened in most coverage, this site's included. Mobile release was October 15, 2024 on iOS and Android, worldwide except Russia, Switzerland and Belgium. Steam followed on March 6, 2025 with landscape 1920x1080, controller support and cross-platform account linking.
Final Fantasy XI is the first MMORPG in the Final Fantasy series. Its release dates split by SKU, which is why outlets print different years: Windows in Japan on May 16, 2002, PlayStation 2 in Japan on November 7, 2002, North America on October 28, 2003, Europe on September 17, 2004. It is in its 24th year. Drecom's own release puts the 25th anniversary in 2027.
Nothing about the pairing is unprecedented, whatever the framing on launch day suggested. Wizardry's crossover history already runs through Final Fantasy Agito, Darkest Dungeon II and Disgaea RPG.
One beat of a 45th anniversary
Wizardry dates to 1981 and Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. The 45th anniversary campaign has been running on a published calendar since June, and the Final Fantasy XI collaboration is the fifth item on it:
- June 4, 2026: anniversary site and YouTube channel open, with a video message from co-creator Robert Woodhead
- June 11, 2026: main visual by illustrator Jun Suemi, anniversary survey opens and closes August 31
- June 30, 2026: Blade & Bastard anime teaser PV and staff reveal, Anime Expo panel July 2 to 5
- July 3, 2026: the Final Fantasy XI collaboration teaser
- July 7, 2026: Monster Slasher: Blade & Bastard board game project
That calendar is the reason the teaser read as a summer beat rather than a surprise. The official collaboration microsite leans on the same anniversary framing, carrying a Hiromichi Tanaka and Robert Woodhead interview alongside messages from Yoshiki Okamoto, Mafia Kajita, Fuse and 4Gamer's Kazuhisa Okada.
What has since been revealed
The event opened on July 30 as "Fantasy Castle of Deepest Dark", and the three crossover adventurers landed with it: Prishe, Iroha and Zeid, all disclosed that day and not before. The recruitment mechanic, the banners and the free pick arrived on the same schedule.
None of that belongs in the record of the announcement, so it lives next door: the full launch breakdown covers the roster, the event dungeon and how the adventurers are obtained.
Three dates that finish the story
August 2026, no day attached. The Final Fantasy XI Abyss Mask campaign. It is the last unpublished piece of a reveal that started on July 3, and the month it belongs to is already underway. We will update this piece when Square Enix posts the window.
August 31, 2026. The Wizardry 45th anniversary survey closes, which caps the anniversary campaign's open input.
September 10, 2026, 12:59 JST. 03:59 UTC, or September 9 at 8:59 PM ET. The collaboration window shuts on the Wizardry Variants Daphne side, whether or not the Final Fantasy XI half has run by then.
FAQ
When was the Wizardry Variants Daphne x FFXI collab announced? Teased on July 3, 2026 by Drecom. Confirmed on the Final Fantasy XI side by Square Enix on July 13. Dated on July 24.
When does the collab start and end? July 30, 2026 to September 10, 2026 at 12:59 JST, which is 03:59 UTC and September 9 at 8:59 PM ET. Six weeks.
Was the end date announced later than the start date? No. Both dates came out together on July 24, 2026, alongside the Abyss Mask reward.
What do Final Fantasy XI players get, and when? The Abyss Mask, modelled on the Masked Adventurer's mask from Wizardry Variants Daphne, for logging in during an August 2026 campaign. Square Enix has not published the campaign dates as of August 1.
Was the roster known when the dates were announced? No. The playable crossover adventurers stayed sealed until launch day, July 30. Cait Sith appeared in the July 3 teaser art but is not one of them.
Who makes Wizardry Variants Daphne? Studio 2Pro develops it. Drecom publishes it. The game launched on mobile on October 15, 2024 and on Steam on March 6, 2025. </content> </invoke>