Square Enix has shared an important message to fans, regarding copies of Final Fantasy XVI that broke the street date.
On Twitter, Square Enix shared this message:
“We’re aware that a small number of physical copies of Final Fantasy XVI are being circulated. We are in the process of a thorough investigation into illegitimate acquisitions and are acting to limit this ahead of the official launch of the game on June 22nd.
For those who receive a copy ahead of launch, we kindly as that you do not share any aspect of the game; including screenshots, videos, and livestreams, until after Final Fantasy XVI has officially launched.
Our priority is to ensure that the full game experience is not spoiled for our fans, and to do that we will be taking down any images, videos or streams published ahead of launch day.
We ask for your assistance and cooperation in this final week ahead of launch.
It’s almost June 22nd, and we can’t wait for you to experience the full game the way the development team intended.
Sincerely,
The Final Fantasy XVI team”
As we had previously reported, Square Enix was compelled to release a Day One Patch, in spite of all their efforts to avoid this situation. This patch became necessary when fans observed some issues with the performance of Final Fantasy XVI’s demo.
Now, Square Enix understood that the game experience is compromised for players when they get differing experiences at launch. And that happens when games get Day One Patches, because some players can get access to the patch when they start their game, and others can’t.
This ties in to a bigger issue that Square Enix is facing with those “illegitimate acquisitions,” as they put it. Reviewers, influencers, but also ordinary consumers and gamers, may get their hands on those “illegitimate acquisitions,” that have compromised on the game in some way or form. When those versions of the game get reviewed, the reviews are then illegitimate as well, in particular when the reviewer finds bugs or performance issues.
When you consider how high profile Final Fantasy XVI is for Square Enix, you understand that they can’t let anything go wrong to keep it from being more successful than it can be. But when you also remember that this follows a series of floundering and mixed releases from the company, including Babylon’s Fall and Forspoken, you really understand that Square Enix is on high alert mode at the moment.
If Final Fantasy XVI is to falter, it should at least be in its own merits and failures, not because of illegitimate previews and reviews from illegitimate versions of the game. While gamers can see Square Enix tried very hard to make this game the best they can, they can’t control every variable of its release. And that’s why they’re taking all this trouble now.
Final Fantasy XVI will be releasing exclusively to the PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023.
