Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16 is out next month and generating significant hype. It’s thanks in no small part to Naoki Yoshida of Final Fantasy 14 fame, who serves as the action RPG’s producer. Various impressions are available for the first three hours, which will seemingly be the demo that goes live next month.
However, Yoshida discussed a separate yet intriguing topic with GQ – dropping numbers from future Final Fantasy games. “A lot of players are going to come in, and they’re going to look at it like a comic book where you have to read from the beginning to know what’s going on now. It’s hard for marketing because every numbered title that we release in the series, we have to go into it like, ‘It’s OK, you don’t have to play the rest of them.’”
Does that mean Square Enix could stop numbering future entries? Not yet, but it’s been discussed, says Yoshida. “That’s actually something that I’ve discussed with the higher-ups. Maybe it’s about time we removed the numbers from the title.
“For example, you have Final Fantasy 14. You get a new player coming in, and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, why do I have to play Final Fantasy 14 if 16 is out?’ Why don’t we just call it Final Fantasy Online – just get rid of the number altogether, and that’ll make it easier to understand.”
However, it will ultimately depend on whoever develops the future sequels. “Whether Final Fantasy 17 or Final Fantasy 18 should have a number or not – that’s going to be on whoever has to develop that game and whoever’s in charge of the branding, so that’s their problem, not ours!”
Final Fantasy 16 will release on June 22nd for PS5 and is exclusive to the console for at least six months. Yoshida has expressed interest in a PC version, but that won’t arrive immediately after the exclusivity period. As for the PS5 demo, it’s planned to go live about two weeks before the worldwide release. Stay tuned for more updates, as always.
