Despite how good Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16 looked in its debut trailer, there’s been quite the confusion over its platforms. Announced as coming to PC in the trailer, this was subsequently pulled with the company reaffirming that it was a PS5 exclusive. It had “no further information” on releases for other platforms.
However, a series of tweets from industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls may provide some answers. After initially tweeting about the game being a “full exclusive” for six months and a console exclusive for 12 months (which came from Sony itself), Harding-Rolls followed up a clarification. “Final Fantasy 16 is a full exclusive for 6 months (after which it can come to non-console platforms) & a console exclusive for 12 months (after which it can also come to other consoles). Timing and platform support is totally down to SE’s dev efforts”
As for the initially announced PC version, Harding-Rolls noted that there was “no official confirmation” of the same. “However the structure of the deal and the mention in the Sony PS5 showcase does suggest this is the case. When this arrives after the six months contractual period is up is obviously down to SE.”
If the mention of a PC version at the end of the trailer had remained, Square Enix could have clarified its exclusivity status. But it’s likely that the details of this deal aren’t meant to be discussed officially. Regardless, it will be some time before Final Fantasy 16 is out. Producer Naoki Yoshida said the next big information reveal was in 2021 so we’ll have to wait for more details in the meantime.
Final Fantasy XVI is a full exclusive for 6 months and a console exclusive for 12 months (it is coming to PC as well) https://t.co/LsrqAK6221
— Piers Harding-Rolls (@PiersHR) September 16, 2020
Sony confirmed to me it is 6 months full exclusive and 12 months console exclusive. I therefore assume (coupled with the caption in the presentation) that it is coming to PC.
— Piers Harding-Rolls (@PiersHR) September 16, 2020
To clarify:#FinalFantasyXVI is a full exclusive for 6 months (after which it can come to non-console platforms) & a console exclusive for 12 months (after which it can also come to other consoles)
Timing and platform support is totally down to SE’s dev efforts /1 https://t.co/VGiYLFXzdN
— Piers Harding-Rolls (@PiersHR) September 17, 2020
There is no official confirmation of FF XVI coming to PC, however the structure of the deal and the mention in the Sony PS5 showcase does suggest this is the case. When this arrives after the 6 months contractual period is up is obviously down to SE. /2
— Piers Harding-Rolls (@PiersHR) September 17, 2020