Final Fantasy XVI's development cycle has entered its final stages, Square Enix has confirmed. In a couple of newly released statements from producer Naoki Yoshida and director Hiroshi Takai, it's revealed that the team is now fully focused on final optimisations; polishing things up, debugging, and all that kind of stuff.
It's great news as far as the game's summer 2023 release window is concerned, as it suggests that everything is going well behind the scenes — and the studio's still got loads of time to make sure the game's running as best it can.
"With regards to development, the team has turned the corner and entered the home stretch," writes Yoshida. Takai echoes this in his own statement: "As the game edges closer to completion, the team has turned its full attention to debugging and final adjustments."
"Now that things are starting to come together, the game is sizing up to be something truly special," Takai continues.
And to be fair, the action RPG does look damn good in its new trailer, which features a more in-depth look at its fantastical setting.
Takai also says another "big reveal" is on the cards, although that's to be expected, given that the game is still potentially more than half a year away from its release. It'll be very interesting to see just how broad the marketing campaign for Final Fantasy XVI ends up being, because Square Enix still has a lot of time to kill.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 20
They have handled this game quite well considering what happened with FF15
Probably the Game Awards, Square Enix has shown up quite a lot there over the years and wasn't Geoff trying to make this year's one the best yet or something like that?
@Grumblevolcano Doubt you'll get anything this soon. Probably Not-E3 next year.
Look forward to this in Spring 2024
This one has me in super-skeptical mode.
15 was such a letdown, and going by mainline games, the last good one IMO was 12, which was 2008 or so (IZJS, not vanilla).
I want it to be a good time, but I'll have to wait for reviews, and maybe a few LPs to truly gauge if it's for me.
@riceNpea My thoughts exactly. From earlier:
"So, delay announcement in February to the fall of 2023, delay announcement in the summer to spring 2024?"
Though I did just check on Google and it's a PS5 exclusive* (*PC will almost certainly come later) so it's possible the base game releases next summer, then they can spend a year updating it and fixing what's broke to release the finished game on PC summer 2024.🤷
#1 most anticipated game for me, followed by 7 Rebirth, and FFXIV 7.0
CBU3 has mostly worked on FFXIV, but they know how to make a quality product.
Here’s their metacritic history:
A Realm Reborn: 86
Heavensward: 87
Stormblood: 87
Shadowbringers: 90
Endwalker: 92
@Browny “I'll have to wait for reviews, and maybe a few LPs to truly gauge if it's for me.”
^^^always the best option . I will say the devs behind this one, “Creative Business Unit 3”, have a stellar track record under Yoshida.
Hype level 9000 on this bad boy
@Browny
Entirely different team is behind this one.
This is the team that turned FFXIV from a broken mess into possibly the best MMORPG of all time.
I’ve got strong faith in them.
Between this and the second FF7 title, I’ve got to say that I’m really excited for gaming next year.
By all accounts this seems to have been a well managed project with a clear vision and strong team at the helm. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they’ve cooked up.
Great news. One of the top must play games on my list. Day 1 for sure
Ready for the next chapter of the series (though i would prefer turn based gameplay.) Still everything else is just what i wanted and with DMC team helping with the combat it's guaranteed to be great.
Can't wait for this. 15 was such a disappointing mess to me and it will be nice to finally have it behind another mainline entry.
@rjejr not a chance with Yoshida in charge. I'm expecting 90+ scores
@OrtadragoonX
I don't have a glowing opinion on 14 myself, so their track record there is worth little, if anything.
Patience and reviews. After all, I haven't played a FF at launch since 13 in 2010.
@somnambulance Not to mention we're also getting all of these games in 2023...and that's just only what's been confirmed or announced so far.
2023
Forspoken - January 24
Dead Space Remake - January 27
Hogwarts Legacy - February 10
Like a Dragon: Ishin! Remake - February 21
Resident Evil 4 Remake - March 24
TBA 2023
Layers of Fears (LoF 1 & 2 UE5 Remake) - Early 2023
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Early 2023
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - Early 2023
Alan Wake II
Assassin's Creed: Mirage
Atlas Fallen
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Black Myth: Wukong
Granblue Fantasy: Relink
Lies of P
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Lollipop Chainsaw (Remake)
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Pragmata
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Stellar Blade (aka Project EVE)
Synduality
@KidBoruto I’ve already purchased Forspoken, Hogwarts, and RE4, and will definitely purchase both FF games, no hesitation. Pragmata, Mirage, and Alan Wake 2 are in the same boat for me and I have a suspicion I’ll be preordering a Silent Hill game soon too. Wukong, I’m really curious about too. 2023 is the thickest year in gaming I’ve perhaps ever seen. PS’s lineup is thick and so is Nintendo and even Xbox has a few interesting titles. I’ve gotten used to literally playing everything I find interesting the past three years and still having free time between releases. I may miss that feeling very soon! Lol.
@somnambulance Yeah haha, there will be no breaks in gaming for us until March 2023 at least, for the moment anyways.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...