By Eric Law
Final Fantasy 14 removes the gender restrictions on five different outfits that were previously gender-locked, including the butler and maid sets.
Final Fantasy 14’s next expansion is imminent, and in preparation for the big day, Square Enix has released the preliminary Patch Notes for Endwalker. Buried in the flood of exciting information was an unexpected gift: the critically-acclaimed MMORPG was removing the gender restrictions on five popular outfits.
In Final Fantasy 14, certain outfits are only wearable by male or female characters. With Endwalker’s release, five of these outfits -- three previously available only to female characters and two to male -- will be equippable by characters regardless of their gender.
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The Spring Dress, the Loyal Housemaid’s Attire, and the Thavnairian Bustier, previously only wearable by female characters, will now be able to be worn by men. On the other hand, the Loyal Butler’s Attire and High House Justaucorps will be able to be worn by female characters, where previously only male characters could equip them. These restrictions are being removed for all of the individual items that make up the outfits, including hats, gloves, boots, and pants. These outfits are now fully available to all characters in Final Fantasy 14 regardless of gender.
These outfits join the growing line of gear where gender restrictions are no longer present in FF14. Previously, the tuxedos and dresses available to characters through the Ceremony of Eternal Bonding wedding events had their gender locks removed, as did the bunny outfits from the Golden Saucer.
The 2B dress from the Nier crossover raid was implemented in the game as gender-neutral as well, and earlier this year, Final Fantasy 14 surprised fans by revealing the Male Viera–a previously female-only playable race option–and promising a female option to the male-only Hrothgar some time in the future.
Final Fantasy 14 players were elated when they saw the gender restrictions being removed from these items. Many players had created custom designs for these outfits for male characters, especially the Thavnairian Bustier. The gradual removal of gender-locked content is a great step towards more gender inclusivity in Final Fantasy 14. By allowing characters of any gender to wear these outfits, Square Enix has given players more ways to express themselves.
Most players hope Final Fantasy 14 continues this trend. There are still many gender-locked outfits in the game, and though Endwalker is taking big steps forward towards inclusivity, players will not be truly satisfied, nor truly free to express themselves, until the restrictions are removed from FF14 entirely.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5. The Endwalker expansion launches on December 7.
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Source: Final Fantasy XIV
