It's official: Final Fantasy 16 is coming to the PC. But, there's a catch - it's going to take years before this happens.
The upcoming mainline Final Fantasy installment will make its truly exclusive debut on the PlayStation 5 on June 22. While it will have a six-month exclusivity window on the PS5, PC gamers will have to display an inordinate amount of patience for a chance to experience Clive Rosfield's epic adventure (either that, or they can go ahead and buy a PS5 to enjoy it at launch).
Like, at least a couple of years.
The news came from FF16 producer, Naoki Yoshida, himself, as pointed out by @Genki_JPN on Twitter.
The revelation comes after Naoki Yoshida reiterated several times in the past that either a PC version isn't coming at all, or if it did, it will take more than half a year.
If nothing else, this just displays the commitment by Yoshida and the rest of Creative Business Unit III to focus on making Final Fantasy 16 run the best it can on the PlayStation 5 when it finally comes out.
Square Enix has a long history of releasing mainline Final Fantasy games on Sony's console first, with PC versions following much later. For example, Final Fantasy 15 was exclusive to consoles for a full two years before its PC port materialized. Thus, Yoshida's announcement maintains consistency with Square Enix's past approach, reiterating the company's commitment to quality and the intricacies of porting these expansive RPGs to the platform.
Coincidentally, the two-year gap is also in line with Sony's plans for future PC ports of first-party PlayStation titles.
While this is disappointing, Square Enix's intention is clear - it wants to avoid situations like with The Last of Us Part 1.
The discussion around FF16's PC port release also drew attention to other consoles like the Xbox Series S and X as well as the Nintendo Switch. The former missed out on the FF7 Remake and will likely be not considered for FF16. The latter might not even possess the hardware capabilities to run FF16 barring a miracle.
On the bright side, Square Enix has said several times that its focus is on rolling out FF16 in a complete and polished state on the PS5. The studio isn't even thinking about post-launch content for FF16 until after they've seen the market's response to the game.
If Square Enix wants to guarantee a high-quality PC port for Final Fantasy 16, it gives gamers plenty to look forward to over the next few years, especially with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and its expected sequel also coming out within this decade.
In the meantime, Final Fantasy fans are waiting for Square Enix to release the pre-release demo for FF16.
