Sony has had a partnership locked down with Square Enix for quite a while now, which has seen some of the Japanese publisher’s biggest titles coming to PlayStation as exclusives, in some capacity or the other, for varying periods of time. The upcoming Forspoken will be exclusive to PS5 and PC for at least two years after launch, while Final Fantasy 16 is also launching as a PS5 exclusive. But how long will it be before the former lands on other platforms?
Sony recently released a new commercial for the PS5, touting its hardware features and offering glimpses of some of its biggest current and upcoming titles. Among those titles was Final Fantasy 16, and interestingly enough, that glimpse of gameplay was accompanied with text confirming that the game will be exclusive to the PS5 for a period of six months after launch. You can check out the ad below (timestamped to the relevant section), as well as a screencap that highlights the relevant text. A previous ad in 2021 had only mentioned that the game would be exclusive to the console for “a limited time.”
Whether this means that only the game’s full exclusivity will end after six months (allowing for a PC release), or whether its console exclusivity period will end as well (at which point it could also release for Xbox) hasn’t been specified. Back in 2020, industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls had said that it would be the former, with the game’s console exclusivity period lasting for a year. Read more on that through here.
Recent days have seen Square Enix unveiling a bunch of new details on the upcoming RPG. In addition to revealing a meaty new trailer, its developers have also confirmed that the game’s main story will be 35-40 hours long, spoken about the scope of its side quests, and confirmed the inclusion of a New Game Plus mode. Meanwhile, Square Enix has also confirmed that a demo for the title will be released shortly before its full launch.
Final Fantasy 16 is set to land on PS5 in Summer 2023. Its final release date is likely to be announced before the end of this year.
