Square Enix plans to announce the PS5 release date for Final Fantasy XVI at some point this year, game producer Naoki Yoshida has said. In an interview with Famitsu, Yoshida is asked whether a concrete date will be confirmed beyond the "Summer 2023" window, to which he says: "We plan to release the information again later this year, so I think we can say it at that time. I don't think it's going to be over the summer, so I think it's okay (laughs)."
Elsewhere in the piece, Final Fantasy XVI is described as "about 95 per cent" complete. The team is said to be playing through the JRPG "day by day", tweaking and improving elements as it goes. "Anyway, the scale of the game is large, so debugging takes a lot of time. Almost all programmers are fiddling with code to fix bugs," Yoshida adds.
Given the fact a Final Fantasy XVI release date announcement is a big deal, the obvious destination for the reveal would be The Game Awards in early December. Unless Sony has a surprise State of Play livestream up its sleeve — or Square Enix decides to share the news on its own — then it looks like Geoff Keighley is the man to turn to. The latest info drop we received was a four-minute trailer full of characters and world-building, with confirmation development is in the "home stretch".
[source famitsu.com]
Comments 24
Well there's isn't much time left this years so we'll know soon
Just hope it doesn't release to close to Tears of the Kingdom because that game most likely will take some time to beat
Makes sense since 16 is supposed to be coming out in the summer — a release date announcement before the end of the year allows for a six-month marketing window, or thereabouts.
Maybe The Game Awards will actually be worth watching this year!
(Sorry Geoff, I don't really mean that...)
All I ask is that it not be around the same time as Trails into Reverie. Don't make me pick between those two!
Playstation experience is coming back according to the brother of a cousin of mine 5 times removed. But it could change. Sony haven't decided yet. But THIS TIME IT LOOKS LIKE ITS REALLY HAPPENING. HONEST!*
Disclaimer - this could be a complete fabrication. Best check with Twitter 'insiders' to be sure
Damn, I forgot all about the Game Awards. One more thing too (at least kinda) look forward to^^ altough I tend to tune in an hour later so I can fastforward everything not of interest to me (;
And idea what date the leak will take place?
@Korgon You already know it's happening. 16 and Reverie will be about a week or less away from each other, and I'll have to open a time-space portal to review both.
@Korgon Play the fan translation of Trails of Reverie now!
As for FF16 I cannot wait, I am a huge fan of the series, and a lot of time has passed since FF7 Remake and a lot more since FF15...
I'm hoping for late July-August next year... a bit of time between Zelda:TotK and FF16 would be lovely!
Cannot wait for this game though I do still have a few mild concerns. One of the chief ones right now is they have shown very little of exploration. What does that look like? What do towns and cities look like? What does party management and menus look like?
Also praying that M rating is just for violence and nothing more.
Soooooo excited for this. SE got their act together development-wise and it really shows. I'd expect some promotions within the company after this launch.
So this is a piece about a release date to unveil a release date?
Is this the first time in a long time that a mainline FF game is releasing without any major delays or development issues? It was announced late 2020 & we’ll be playing it 7-8 months from now.
Did they mean this year as in Nov or Dec? Wow hope that means another insanely good trailer coming sooner than I thought
Whatever game that might release close to FFXVIs release date will get pushed back without a second thought. I'm confident they're making something special with this game and wouldn't want to miss playing it day one
Give us a playstation show! Hype up the vr and some games geez
Between this and VII Rebirth, it’s a good time to be a Final Fantasy Fan. Square really needs a win after their string of bad decisions.
Find it hard to believe the game is anywhere near complete, when they still haven't revealed the release date for the reveal of the release date /s
Announcing a precise release date around 7 months prior to the previously announced release window is rather odd. Honestly makes me think perhaps we'll see a Xenoblade Chronicles 3 type situation where it's announced that the game's released a few months earlier than previously announced (e.g. April).
In any case, the release date announcement itself feels like a Game Awards reveal.
I couldn't get into FF15... Maybe I gave up on it too early. I loved the FF7 remake though. Crisis core looks good too.
Can't wait for this!!! That last trailer we saw looked amaaazing!!!
@Greger22 I think FF15 definitely had its charm, it was no FF7R though. As for FF16, this will be the first FF game that I pass on.
@thedevilsjester I'm not optimistic either, which makes me kind of sad, I've followed final fantasy for most of my life. I've seen enough interviews about how it's going to be different to older games, need to see one about what it's keeping.
@Grumblevolcano @McBurn @ShogunRok Game Awards reveal does make the most sense, especially since there are no other major gaming events left in 2022.
Fingers crossed the game is released sooner like what happened with Xenoblade 3 on Switch.
Otherwise I don't see the game releasing until June or July at the earliest, due to the promised "Summer 2023" release window in the most recent trailer.
Even though I've been looking forward to it I have a sinking feeling this game won't deliver. It's got a "trying too hard" vibe.
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