At the opening night live broadcast ceremony of Cologne, "Final Fantasy 14" and "Monster Hunter: Wilderness" announced a major linkage, and both sides will join the other party's special boss battle in the series.Final Fantasy 14 players will face Locking Dragon in early October, while Monster Hunter: Wilderness players will challenge the classic mechanical boss Omega in September.

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This is the second time that Final Fantasy 14 and Monster Hunter series have joined hands.As early as the "Red Lotus Frenzy" version of "Final Fantasy 14", the linkage with "Monster Hunter: World" brought the iconic Fire Dragon into Aozea, launching the "Big Hunting" crusade with the normal/extremely difficult modes, and using the Fire Dragon mount as a reward."Monster Hunter" introduced Behemoth's hunting mission.These two classic linkage contents are still available for players to challenge today.

By the end of 2025, the two major IPs will once again cooperate to bring new content to players.At the Cologne exhibition, Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of Final Fantasy 14, and Ryozo Tsujimoto, producer of Monster Hunter: Wild, jointly announced that the "Monster Hunter: Wild" part of the linkage content will be launched in late September, and players will face Omega, the most intimidating mechanical creature in the Final Fantasy series.The mixed-cut trailer using the theme song "eScape" of "Final Fantasy 14" was released simultaneously on the spot.The iconic monster Locked Dragon in Monster Hunter: The Wilderness will also be launched in Final Fantasy 14 as the leader of the siege.Referring to the dual-difficulty design of the Fire Dragon siege, the new battle is likely to continue the same mode.

"Monster Hunter: Wilderness" players will receive the chorus skin of the Heron Dragon. "Final Fantasy 14" players can also obtain exclusive appearance rewards: by participating in the Locking Blade Dragon Battle, you can obtain the Heron Dragon mount and the accompanying Erlucat pet.The content is expected to be implemented in early October and will be launched through version 7.35 or an independent update.

Although both Monster Hunter: The Wilderness and Final Fantasy 14 both face the challenge of player retention in 2025, this linkage may become a heart-warming agent to boost popularity.