Greetings, adventurers!
Matsui here to say a few words on this, the day of the 18th Vana'versary.

Today, May 16, marks 18 years since service started for FINAL FANTASY XI.

At the same time, the world is dealing with an unprecedented crisis in the form of the novel coronavirus, and I wish for the swift recovery of all those who have been affected.

The development and operation teams are currently attempting to cope with the new normal, telecommuting to help prevent the disease from spreading to others. When this situation began, we were only able to do a limited amount of work from home in light of security and development resource-related concerns, but thanks to the tireless efforts of various company departments, we are making steady progress towards achieving full capacity. At present, we are working to bring you things that we originally planning to put in the May version update. Chief among those is the 18th Vana'versary event, which we're doing our best to implement soon, albeit a month later than originally intended.

In addition, we're also going to be bringing you story-related content and much more in this 18th Vana'versary year. We had hoped to bring you more related information in May, but we're going to look for another opportunity to share our plans instead.

That said, we're happy to show you the 18th Vana'versary logo for the first time!

This wonderful Carbuncle-themed illustration was brought to you by the amazingly talented Chisato Asakura, and we hope that this first avatar will remind everyone of our humble beginnings those many years ago as we march ever forward toward the 20th Vana'versary.

I know I say this every year, but we are able to celebrate the Vana'versary because you, Vana'diel's finest adventurers, have chosen to make FINAL FANTASY XI your home away from home. The team is always looking for more ways to continue to provide you with unforgettable experiences, particularly as we look toward the 19th and 20th Vana'versaries, and we pledge to do our utmost to bring you the best Vana'diel we possibly can.

Akihiko Matsui Producer, FINAL FANTASY XI