Final Fantasy XIV will team up with the Sydney Gaymers group for a Sydney Mardi Gras float in March, it was today announced.

While this is the Sydney Gaymer’s fifth year participating at Mardi Gras, this collaboration will mark the first time a video game has entered a float in the event.

“Sydney Gaymers is thrilled to be collaborating with Final Fantasy XIV Online for its 2019 float entry,” Sydney Gaymers’ Peak Distapan said. “It means so much to receive direct support, validation and acknowledgement from such a force in the industry.”

Distapan continued on to say that Final Fantasy XIV seemed a perfect fit for the Mardi Gras float.

“Not only that, to be supported by a game where so much of our community and values are represented. The Final Fantasy XIV Online community does not discriminate and respects everyone’s freedom and their individual values equally,” he said. “For many LGBTQI+ people, online communities provide a space for the journey and exploration of personal identities They allow us to connect, and celebrate, and they reinforce that we are not alone.”

Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director, Naoki Yoshida, echoed Distapan’s remarks.

“This collaboration could never have been realised without the efforts of our community. When FFXIV took part in PAX Australia, it was the FFXIV players in Australia who offered us the greatest welcome and utmost support,” Yoshida said.

“This led on to our community and Sydney Gaymers working together to make the collaboration a reality. To see it makes me very happy indeed, both as the person in charge of FFXIV and also as just another player of the game. FFXIV is another world that continues to grow and expand online. In that world people become adventurers, known as the Warriors of Light, and can continue to be free. I would like to continue developing this world, hand in hand with communities across the globe.”

Entering its 41st year, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras runs between 15 February and 3 March 2019. The Mardi Gras Parade is scheduled for Saturday, 2 March.

Final Fantasy XIV is available now on Windows PC and PS4. Check out our coverage from the Paris Fan Festival 2019 here.