22nd June, 2023. That's the big day for Final Fantasy fans in the year ahead, as Final Fantasy XVI remains locked in to its summer release date. We've got close to seven months before it arrives, but Square Enix is wasting no time in getting the ball rolling. In a straight-to-the-point social media post, the developer reiterates the aforementioned launch date, and promises "a lot of information" in the meantime. Some lovely new artwork is included.
We get that it's a fairly innocent statement, but let's be real: the marketing budget for this game will be colossal — and that's without factoring in PlayStation's involvement with its timed exclusivity deal. You're going to be seeing a lot of Final Fantasy XVI over the next few months as we ramp up to the promised date. Assuming it doesn't get delayed, of course!
It's not like Final Fantasy XVI has been kept locked away since its announcement a few years back — we got loads of information on the game last year — but we still have a lot of questions. Many have been left wondering about how the title handles exploration, for example, because just about every trailer we've seen either has an emphasis on story or combat. We'd love to see some uncut gameplay footage.