It’s been known for a while now, but there’s now official word that Final Fantasy XVI will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive for at least six months. The confirmation comes by the way of a new sizzle reel, which showcases the PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller’s features and some of the upcoming titles for the console.
“Final Fantasy XVI anticipated Summer 2023. PS5 exclusive for six months,” reads the disclaimer accompanying a very brief look at the game. It’s a relatively short window, considering the 12-month exclusivity of Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop, as well as the 24-month gap for the upcoming Forspoken.
The highly-anticipated JRPG will eventually arrive on PC sometime in the future, but the exact date is unknown. Back in 2020, the live stream that revealed its announcement trailer included the words, “also available on PC,” but the official trailer later removed any mention of it. It’s also unclear if an Xbox X|S version is being planned down the line.
According to Square Enix, the development for FFXVI is about 95 percent completed. A specific release date is expected to be announced at the end of the year, but for it’s tagged to a vague Summer 2023 window for now. That means that the title would land on PC via Steam or the Epic Games Store by the end of 2023 at the earliest, or more likely, the start of 2024.
Set in the fantasy of Valisthea, FFXVI follows three main characters: Clive and Joshua Rosfield, who come from a noble family of Dominants, superpowered humans who can control the Eikons, and Jill Warrick, who was adopted by their family to end the conflict between warring nations.
It will be the first M-rated game in the main series, with large-scale summons of Ifrit, Bahamut, and Shiva poised to make an appearance. Additionally, the game will have an area-based design instead of an open world, and introduce the ability to transform players into Eikons, powerful monsters resembling the aforementioned summons.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
