On April 13, 2023, two major events happened in the world of gaming. Nintendo revealed the final trailer for the next installment in the Legend of Zelda franchise and Sony did a State of Play dedicated to only one game – Final Fantasy 16. Two big series and a whole lot of excitement. Square Enix’s next major entry into the Final Fantasy series is helmed by none other than Naoki Yoshida, or Yoshi-P as its producer. His impeccable work on saving Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and making it into a successful MMORPG is commendable, to say the least. And now, he serves as one of the main driving forces behind the development of Final Fantasy XVI. Fans of the series have been very curious about the game’s release date along with what other platforms it will be available on.
Like the previous installments, FF XVI offers a different story with a completely new cast of characters and setting. Since opinion around Final Fantasy XV was mixed particularly due to the story, it will be interesting to see how fans and critics react to the upcoming title. It has been more than half a decade since the last mainline Final Fantasy game was released and fans are beyond excited. Well, this excitement leads to curiosity, and fans are more than curious about information regarding the game’s release on popular platforms including PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, & Nintendo Switch. Well, we have mentioned all the details here.
Is there a Final Fantasy (FF) XVI PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, & Nintendo Switch Release Date
Just like everything else, games need to evolve too. The same goes for the Final Fantasy series. Older FF titles used to employ turn-based combat but the newer ones have opted for Action RPG combat instead. The nearly thirty-minute or so State of Play about Final Fantasy XVI confirmed that it was an action RPG video game. Furthermore, the release date has already been set in stone, with Square Enix eyeing a worldwide release on June 22 of this year. Almost a month later the launch of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The studio already confirmed that Final Fantasy XVI will remain a timed exclusive for at least six months after its launch on the PlayStation platform. The exclusivity will only be for the PS5 console.
Some thoughts on ports of Final Fantasy XVI
While Square Enix is known for its closeness with Sony, they are at the end of the day, an independent company. They have released their mainline games on other platforms in the past, including mobile. Final Fantasy XV had a simultaneous PlayStation and Xbox release. Windows users also got their port and Stadia did too. Suffice it to say, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Final Fantasy XVI will eventually see its way into platforms other than the PlayStation 5, but that will eventually take time, as producer Naoki Yoshida said in the following statement-
It is true that FINAL FANTASY XVI is a six-month limited time exclusive on the PS5 platform. However, it is a completely different story that the PC version will be released in half a year. I will make it clear, but the PC version will not come out in half a year.
Aside from this, we are 99% sure about one thing. We don’t think Square Enix will be porting this game to the Nintendo Switch. New Final Fantasy games are very hardware intensive and the Switch’s hardware has no capabilities to run them. Cloud gaming could maybe work but Square Enix hasn’t done that with their previous titles for the Switch, so that’s a goner. This article will be updated if Square Enix announces ports of Final Fantasy XVI for other platforms. Don’t forget to bookmark DigiStatement to get the latest updates on gaming.
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