Final Fantasy 16 has been announced for PS5 and PC, and will see the beloved franchise return to its medieval fantasy roots for yet another epic, single-player adventure.
It will also be produced by Naoki Yoshida, who is renowned as the man who brought Final Fantasy 14: Online back from the dead after a woeful 1.0 launch. With such an established development pedigree behind it, the sixteenth entry stands a chance at being something truly special, no matter how far away it is from launching.
Following its reveal, we’ve compiled everything you need to know about Final Fantasy 16 including all the latest news, trailers, story and gameplay details.
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What is Final Fantasy 16?
In the works for PS5 and PC, Final Fantasy 16 is the next entry in Square Enix’s JRPG franchise and will be helmed by Naoki Yoshida as producer and Hiroshi Takai as director. Here’s what the former had to say in the official announcement press release:
“The exclusive footage, comprised of both battles and cutscenes running in real-time, represents but a fraction of what our team has accomplished since the start of development on this, an all-new FINAL FANTASY game,” Yoshida explained.
“In that span, the team’s size has grown from a handful of core members to a full-fledged unit that continues to polish and build upon what they have created so far, all to provide players an experience unmatched in terms of story and gameplay.”
Final Fantasy 16 release date – when is it coming out?
A release date for Final Fantasy 16 remains unclear, but we will update this page once we know more. The next drop of information is set to come in 2021, so chances are we’ll be waiting a while until it finally launches. Speaking on a recent podcast, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said that Final Fantasy 16 could be coming “sooner than people think.”
“I’ve heard from people who know the game, have worked on the game or are familiar with the game’s development that it’s actually been in development for at least four years in some capacity. So it’s coming sooner than people think.”
He added: “15 I think really set a terrible precedent. It was announced as Versus 13 in 2006 and then took ten years to make, so I think they want to shy away from that. It makes sense. 15 game out in 2016, so it’s already been four years since the last Final Fantasy game.”
Final Fantasy 16 news – It’s real and a PS5 console exclusive
Square Enix and Sony Computer Entertainment have confirmed the existence of Final Fantasy 16, with the upcoming JRPG being thrust into the spotlight during tonight’s PS5 Showcase.
Rumoured ahead of the show across social media and by a couple of industry insiders, it is wonderful to see the next chapter of Square Enix’s beloved JRPG franchise to finally be confirmed – and it looks fantastic on PS5.
The showcase featured a detailed look at the game, and was surprisingly generous when it came to showing off the upcoming adventure’s story, combat and characters. It definitely feels similar to Game of Thrones or The Witcher, albeit with a Final Fantasy twist. Those hoping the series would go back to its medieval roots that haven’t been explored since Final Fantasy 9 won’t be dissapointed here.
It will be a console exclusive for PlayStation 5, much like FF7 Remake, although will also be coming to PC. The trailer warned that the footage being featured was captured on a PC reminiscent of the PS5 experience, which is a bit of honest we can appreciate. We’ll be sure to share more details on Final Fantasy 16 very soon, which means a deeper dive into everything we saw from the much-anticipated epic.