Final Fantasy XIV Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida has posted a new "Producer's Letter" in advance of the Japanese Golden Week holiday to update players on future content for the game. At the top of the list is the upcoming 1.18 update, which is said to be substantially bigger and will require a little more time for balance work. That means that it will likely not be ready until around mid-June. But players may see a small portion of the content broken off and added as part of a 1.17b update.

1.18 is going to be relatively bigger than previous patches. This means that balancing is going to take more time than usual, and so we’re anticipating a somewhat longer period between patches. Even if we break off some of the content and release it ahead of time in a 1.17b patch (which me might!), 1.18 will still go live sometime in mid-June at the earliest. Sorry for that.

The update will add some welcome content to the game with dungeons for ranks 30-50 and more rework on the game's battle system. Yoshida even offered up some new screenshots of quest hubs and encampments that will be added with the 1.18 update. Players can also expect vanguards of the Grand Companies to begin braving new Eorzea's new dungeons around mid-May. Check out the full letter for more details.

Source: Final Fantasy XIV Producer's Letter