In a new chat with Push Square, Final Fantasy XVI DLC director Takeo Kujiraoka had some happy news to share about the newest mainline installment in the long-running franchise. Although XVI struck many as a divergence from typical Final Fantasy games of the past, the gamble seems to have paid off, as last year’s title managed to bring in tons of new, young fans.
“In recent years, players of the Final Fantasy series have tended to skew towards a higher age range,” Kujiraoka said. ” However, this time there are survey results showing that more people in their teens and 20s played Final Fantasy XVI. I think this shows that, to a certain extent, we’ve achieved one of our initial goals – to have players of all ages play the latest Final Fantasy game.”
The previous title, Final Fantasy XV, also aimed to bring new fans into the fold, with the game’s opening screen reading “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers.”
“This doesn’t mean that all future Final Fantasy games will take a similar direction to Final Fantasy 16, “but I do think it means that we’ve been able to bring new players on board and open new possibilities for the development teams that will work on future installments in the series,” Kujiraoka concluded.
Currently, the MMO Final Fantasy XIV is running a Final Fantasy XVI collaboration, in which players can snag Clive’s outfit—now made dyeable—a Torgal pup minion, and a Torgal mount. The event will run through May 8.
Final Fantasy XVI was released in June 2023 for the PlayStation 5 and a PC release is coming soon. Naoki Yoshida, the game’s director, went on record last month to say that he’d like to direct another major title for Square Enix in the future.