Final Fantasy XVI is set to launch as a timed console exclusive for PlayStation 5 in Summer 2023, Square Enix announced Thursday.
After initially being announced in September 2020, the highly anticipated next mainline entry in the role-playing game franchise now has a release window set.
The announcement was made at the end of Sony's State of Play broadcast Thursday, complete with a new gameplay trailer, titled "Dominance."
In the three-minute preview cinematic, several new Eikons, giant creatures often summoned during battles in the Final Fantasy series, appear along with the game's seemingly real-time battle system.
In particular, players will be invited to engage in some unique boss fights that will feature health bars on the top of the screen, as well as a weapon wheel of sorts at the bottom right of the screen.
"Hopefully with this preview," Square Enix producer Naoki Yoshida said in a statement posted on the Final Fantasy 16 website, "you all were able to get a better picture of what actual gameplay will entailâ namely, high-octane battles featuring our protagonist Clive Rosfield wielding a full arsenal of attacks unique to the game's many Eikons (summons). Not to mention epic clashes between the Eikons themselves that put you right in the action."
Final Fantasy XVI is being developed by Square Enix's Creative Business Unit III's studio. In April, Yoshida said that title was in its "final stages of development."
"As for development progress," director Hiroshi Takai said, "I'm happy to announce that the game is fully playable from start to finish; though, from optimization to brush-up, there is still a mountain of challenges to tackle as we head into our final push."
