Despite lots of back and forth messaging, it looks like Final Fantasy 16 is probably getting a PC version after all — though likely not for a long time.
Speaking on the Japanese PlayStation Blog (and translated by industry insider Wario64 on Twitter, below), Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said he would “like to release a PC version at some point”.
Yoshida said: “It is true that Final Fantasy 16 is a six-month limited time exclusive on the PS5 platform. However, it is a completely different story that the PC version will be released in half a year. I will make it clear: the PC version will not come out in half a year.
Naoki Yoshida says Final Fantasy XVI PC version will not be ready in 6 months after PS5’s release (PS5 version has a 6-month timed exclusive)
Translated from https://t.co/oc3izIeSMZ pic.twitter.com/bRPdts7rjP
— Wario64 (@Wario64) February 28, 2023
“This is because we spent a lot of time and money optimising the PS5 platform to deliver the best gaming experience. Of course, I would like to release a PC version at some point so that everyone can play as many games as possible.
“However, even if we start optimising the PC version after the PS5 version comes out, we won’t be able to optimise it in half a year, so it won’t come out in a short span of half a year. I would like to release it eventually, and I think I will, but I am not at the stage where I can say when.”
Publisher Square Enix has not yet confirmed what other platforms will receive Final Fantasy 16 once the six-month exclusivity ends (whether it be Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or something else), though Yoshida has at least now confirmed that it won’t be PC.
Final Fantasy 16’s platform availability has been an unusually complex topic since the game was announced. The original reveal trailer claimed blatantly that it is “also available on PC”, and while Square Enix mysteriously scrapped this claim soon after, the PS5 exclusivity was brought into question again in November 2022.
An advertisement for the PS5’s DualSense controller said Final Fantasy 16 would only be a “PS5 exclusive for six months”, implying that it would arrive on another platform in December 2023 — six months after its June 22 launch.
Yoshida then denied that a PC version existed at all. “Nobody said a word about a PC version releasing,” he said, wrongly. “Why is it like a PC version is releasing six months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5. Sorry, I went overboard. We did our best, so please look forward to it.”
Alongside this PC version clarification, we just learned a ton of new information about the long-awaited RPG, including about its massive maps, approach to diversity, accessibility items, and why it’s only on the PS5 generation.
We also had a chance to play the game, and in our full preview, said: “Playing through three very different boss fights, as well as carving [our] way through dozens of regular soldiers, has left [us] with a lot of hope for Final Fantasy 16.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.