By July 2015, the title had reached a cumulative total of five million subscriptions. Heavensward performed well critically and earned nominations for 'Expansion of the Year'.

In addition to the new areas, the expansion pack increases the level cap, adds three new character classes and a new playable race, and introduces flying gameplay through the use of airships and other airborne mounts. These actions uncover an ancient conspiracy concerning the origins of the war. Players seek asylum in Ishgard after being falsely accused of murder and become involved in efforts to end the war. Heavensward focuses on a millennium-long conflict known as the Dragonsong War between the Holy See of Ishgard and the dragon horde of Dravania. The latter was the only way to access the OS X version of the game, which premiered on the same day as the expansion pack's launch.

The expansion pack was released as a standalone product for current players, as well as an 'all-in-one' bundle containing A Realm Reborn and Heavensward. Naoki Yoshida served as director and producer and Nobuo Uematsu, who had not worked on the title since the ill-fated 2010 launch of the original Final Fantasy XIV, returned to collaborate with Masayoshi Soken on the soundtrack. It was released on June 23, 2015, nearly two years after the debut of A Realm Reborn. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is the first expansion pack to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix for OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Windows.

Download ff14 hw