Final Fantasy Producer Hopes You Forgot FFXVI was Announced for PC
Final Fantasy XVI is set to release in June for PS5, but seems PC users may have to wait even longer than they thought.
Final Fantasy XVI is the next title in the long-running Final Fantasy series that started back in 1987. The series gained the biggest boost in popularity in the West with Final Fantasy VII in 1997. This latest game takes place in Valisthea, a world with six powerful nations with magical crystals. There, people can turn into the popular Final Fantasy summons like Ifrit, called Eikon in this world. This time, you take control of Clive Rosfield, who is on a quest for revenge after he loses everything to an attack on their kingdom.
The game is a timed exclusive for PS5 and is set to be available for other platforms once that expires at the end of 2023 with the only one at the time being confirmed being PC. Well turns out either that was a lie or someone wasn’t supposed to let that slip that early.
Producer Decides Gaslighting is Worth a Shot
Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida, who is also known as Yoshi-P, was on a livestream recently where he responded to the idea that FF16 was coming to PC. He gave a very strange answer that definitely feels like he’s trying to convince people the original reveal didn’t mention it. Twitter user @Genki_JPN roughly translated what was said by Yoshida as,
“Nobody said a word about a PC version releasing. Why is it like a PC version is releasing 6 months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5! (laughs) Sorry, I went overboard. We did our best so please look forward to it”
Unfortunately, the absolute biggest mention of Final Fantasy XVI getting a PC version was the reveal trailer on the PS5 showcase 2 years ago that ended the trailer with “*Also available on PC.” Many are speculating that the producer is trying to make sure the game sells well when it is released on PS5 instead of people waiting for a PC version to release.
PC Gamers aren’t fans of double dipping if they don’t have to – unless the release is multiple years later like Spider-Man PS4 coming to PC or Red Dead Redemption 2. This would track with how much Square Enix leadership cares about profits. It also lends credence to the idea of a low-selling Final Fantasy mainline title damaging Square Enix (and their shareholders.)
Square Enix and the Strange Handling of Final Fantasy Releases
When it comes to the releases of Final Fantasy games, Square Enix has taken very strange approaches. The Final Fantasy VII remake was a timed exclusive for PS4 in 2020 that was eventually released on PC in 2021. The newer version of Final Fantasy VII Integrade took more than a year after the initial PS4 release. So it isn’t crazy to think Final Fantasy XVI will have a PC release.
People were hoping for an Xbox release of Final Fantasy VII Integrade after the exclusivity ran out without any news of this ever being a possibility. But for some reason, they got the recent release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion on the Xbox One and Series X/S as did the Nintendo Switch without issue. This one may have an explanation though – Microsoft claims Sony is the reason.
Still, that doesn’t explain the absolute weirdest and most confusing release Square Enix has done recently with the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster choices. This specific series is a remaster of all the original Final Fantasy games from I to VI that were released on PC and mobile first. It would be a no-brainer to release these on any console for Final Fantasy fans, yet there was no word on a release for consoles for over 18 months. The only physical release of the game was limited and sold out before most people even knew there was one (myself included.) Hopefully, Final Fantasy XVI has a much, much smoother release than this one is getting it.
Final Fantasy XVI is set to release on June 22nd, 2023 for PS5.
Final Fantasy XVI is looking to be a great time though and a possible hit for PS5 despite confusing and conflicting release info for the game from Square Enix. Let us know in the comments if you are going to get it on PS5 or are waiting to hear the news of its release on other platforms.
Happy gaming!
