Final Fantasy 16 was released on PlayStation 5 last June 22 and a PC port is currently in development. For all intents and purposes, it should look incredible. But that’s not all. According to Naoki Yoshida, it might be available sooner rather than later.
As revealed in an interview with Game Informer, the FF16 PC port is already in the “final stages of optimization” and the development team is already trying to figure out the hardware specifications. However, he’s guaranteeing that they will be “somewhat high.”
FF16‘s producer then asked for more time to confirm when Square will confirm when the FF16 PC port is coming out, saying that they’re looking at the possibility of releasing a demo and the wait will likely be shorter than a year.
Ahead of its glowing reviews, FF16‘s demo launched to much applause. But it did come with a caveat that it made some PS5s melt (the power of Ifrit was probably too much to handle). With its PC release, Yoshida seems like he’s excited to show off how much better FF16 will look on more powerful hardware.
The Eikon battles, which serve as one of the highlights of FF16, should look particularly amazing on appropriate hardware. Of course, if Square does a bad job optimizing the FF16 PC port, we can expect the pitchforks to come out.
Having said that, it looks like the FF16 PC port could be out before the year ends, which lines up with previous rumors. In the meantime, audiences can look forward to playing The Rising Tide, a ten-hour DLC for FF16 that will leave the game’s ending intact.
Final Fantasy 16 was one of last year’s best and most divisive entries. Its Devil May Cry combat meets Final Fantasy Tactics medieval world turned off players who preferred a more classic take on the latest mainline entry in the franchise. Many criticized its “low” sales despite Square Enix coming to its defense. Curiously, there isn’t much backlash against Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which tracks below FF16 in sales. It may be possible that its critical acclaim and more traditional gameplay elements endeared it more to fans of the long running JRPG series.
Final Fantasy 16 is rumored to be the next Final Fantasy game headed to Xbox after Final Fantasy 14 but this remains unconfirmed.
