Fans craving some Final Fantasy XVI to go alongside the healthy servings of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, the latter of which just received a release date, will soon have their appetite satiated. That is, if the game’s producer is anything to go by.
The commentary comes from Naoki Yoshida, or Yoshi-P as the community affectionately refers to him. Yoshida is the Producer of Final Fantasy XVI and the savior of Final Fantasy XIV. In an interview held during TGS’ Japan Game Awards, Yoshida quite confidently declared that fans looking for more from Final Fantasy XVI won’t need to wait long, with Square-Enix likely to “probably release the trailer next month.” Following that, he became a little more hesitant with his words, perhaps recognizing that he had said too much. “I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to the marketing or public relations teams at all, so I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say… (translation courtesy of Gematsu) but I think we’ll probably be able to release the next trailer next month or so… And after that, I hope to be able to give a rough idea of when it will be released.”
While the messaging is clearly a bit mixed, it’s interesting to note the final comment about gamers soon receiving a rough idea of when the game is currently scheduled to release. The last time we received a formal update on the game and some semblance of a timeline was during PlayStation’s June State of Play, where the trailer shown highlighted some incredible visuals, exciting gameplay, and an all-important Summer 2023 (Northern Hemisphere) release window. Yoshida’s comments would now suggest that they’ve closed that window somewhat, but to what level remains to be seen.
Final Fantasy XVI was a recipient of the Future Division award at the Japan Game Awards 2022 and it is certainly one of 2023’s most anticipated titles in other regions of the world as well.
In April, more than a month before we received the State Of Play trailer, Yoshi-P had publically expressed that “development of the latest title, Final Fantasy XVI, is in its final stages,” while he also expressed some thoughts pertaining to the game’s accessibility for different audiences, namely those of different gaming experiences, suggesting that “We want the world, especially the younger generation, to play the game… traditional RPG style of turn-based command fighting is no longer familiar to them… I don’t think we’ll be able to satisfy everyone’s demands, so I’ve told everyone on the team that the first thing we need to do is to make something we think is fun, and make sure it reaches the people who like it.”
