Final Fantasy 16has gone gold ahead of its release this June. It has been nearly seven years since the last numbered entry for the franchise, andFinal Fantasy 16is shaping up to be one of 2023’s biggest releases.
The past few weeks have seen the marketing forFinal Fantasy 16skyrocket, with outlets and content creators offered opportunities to preview slices of the game, in-depth showcases highlighting the world, and trailers teasing the narrative that brings it all together.Yoshi-P recently held a panel at PAX East, presenting a significant amount of details and gameplay forFinal Fantasy 16. A lot of time has been dedicated to explaining the complete embrace of real-time action combat, a stark deviation from a series that has traditionally included turn-based elements of some variety. With how much of the game is being publicly shown, it is not too surprising to learn that development has reached a new milestone.
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A brief and simple tweet from the officialFinal Fantasy 16account announced the news, expressing hope on behalf of the entire team that fans are looking forward to the fast-approaching launch. It is rare for video games to go gold this far out from release, as it usually means that the title is virtually finished and has been granted approval by first-party companies. Given thatFinal Fantasy 16is to be released exclusively on PlayStation 5, this approval would have only been required by Sony, which might explain why it was secured so early.
That said, it does not mean the approved version is exactly what gamers will experience at launch, as bug fixes and minor adjustments are almost certainly still being conducted. Although little is known about any post-launch support or content, it has been made clear that the PC version ofFinal Fantasy 16will not arrive once PS5 exclusivity has concluded. Producer Naoki Yoshida left no doubt when explaining that althoughhe would like to releaseFinal Fantasy 16on PC, that will categorically not happen this year - even though the six-month exclusivity period negotiated by Sony and Square Enix is due to expire in December.
PC gamers have been forced to suffer a series of disappointing ports as of late, with themost recent beingThe Last of Us Part 1. Hopefully, ifFinal Fantasy 16does ever make it to PC, Square Enix can deliver a memorable and playable experience for those on the platform.
Final Fantasy 16is set to release on June 22 for PS5.
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