Final Fantasy 16 is set to be one of the biggest games of 2023. The newest mainline Final Fantasy title will continue the series’ tradition of delivering best-in-class graphics while reimagining longstanding story conventions.
While Square Enix has had plenty of struggles in recent years, the Final Fantasy franchise has been quite strong. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a hit on both PS4 and PC, remasters of classic games have been garnering critical praise, and Final Fantasy 14 is arguably the strongest MMORPG on the market.
But while remasters, spin-offs, and expansion packs are important, mainline releases are held to a different standard. Here’s everything there is to know about Final Fantasy 16 including its release date, platforms, genre, and more.
What genre is Final Fantasy 16?
Final Fantasy 16 is an action RPG in the same vein as recent Square Enix titles such as Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Kingdom Hearts 3.
While Final Fantasy helped popularize turn-based RPGs around the globe, this style of gameplay has been relegated to other Square Enix IPs like Triangle Strategy and Octopath Traveler. These days, Final Fantasy titles are a bit more straightforward in their action.
FF16 will follow in the footsteps of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which reimagined the biggest game in the franchise as something of a hack-and-slash. Fighting will involve a combination of regular attacks, abilities, and dodge rolling. Main character Clive can change his fighting style based on the Eikons he encounters, with players able to change this style during the course of battle.
Separately, Eikons will have their own separate combat system when fighting one another. This will see the game occasionally pivot to kaiju-style battles. These fights repackage standard Final Fantasy fare in an interesting new way.
When is FF16 coming out?
FF16 was first released on PS5 on June 22, 2023.
Square Enix was long dodgy regarding the launch schedule for FF16, announcing the game in 2020 and being generally vague about its development from there. It wasn’t until 2022 that the game had a defined launch window and it didn’t receive an official release date until December 2022. Thankfully, development went smoothly and the game was delivered on time, with no major issues at launch.
All Final Fantasy 16 trailers
Final Fantasy 16 news came in at a slow trickle after its reveal in 2020, but fans got a good look at the game through its trailers. Square Enix went silent in 2021 regarding the game, but rolled out trailer after trailer starting in 2022. Here are all the Final Fantasy 16 trailers that have been released and what they show about the game.
Final Fantasy 16 Awakening Trailer (2020 PS5 Showcase)
The very first Final Fantasy 16 trailer arrived in 2020 during the PS5 Showcase, showing off a batch of PS5-exclusive titles. The reveal gave a general rundown of the story while also teasing both the individual and Eikon-based combat.
Final Fantasy 16 Dominance Trailer (State of Play June 2022)
18 months after the initial trailer, the Dominance Trailer landed at Sony’s June 2022 State of Play event. This trailer highlighted the Dominants, characters in the game that have control over the Eikons. It also gave a closer look at the epic battles that the Eikons could have against one another with Ifrit tangling with Phoenix, Odin taking to the skies against Bahamut, and more.
Final Fantasy 16 Ambition Trailer (October 2022)
Final Fantasy 16 will boast a Fire Emblem-style story, with multiple nations all battling against one another. The Ambition Trailer gives a rundown of the major powers of the game’s world and hints at what they’re looking to get out of the conflict.
Final Fantasy 16 Revenge Trailer (December 2022)
Final Fantasy games sometimes dabble with having a group of main characters rather than a single protagonist, but that’s not the case with FF16. The game’s lead is Clive Rosfield. Though he’s not quite as campy as Final Fantasy Origins’ Chaos-obsessed Jack, he’s so dedicated to revenge that there’s an entire trailer about it.
Final Fantasy 16 The World of Valisthea Trailer (PAX East 2023)
PAX East doesn’t often get big reveals, but it did serve as the stage for the game’s World of Valisthea Trailer. This shows off some of the locales players will traverse in the game, showing gameplay footage of Clive walking through streets, fields, ruins, and more.
Final Fantasy 16 State of Play (April 2023)
In April 2023, Sony pulled out all the stops in highlighting what might be the biggest PS5 exclusive of the year. The game got a 25-minute showcase that included a deep dive on its gameplay and some of the locales players will traverse.
What summons are in Final Fantasy 16?
Summons have almost always been a big part of Final Fantasy in terms of both gameplay and story, but they could be bigger than ever. Literally. Final Fantasy 16 renames summons to “Eikons” and puts them front-and-center, with completely different styles of battles where these massive monsters slug it out.

Several familiar summons have been confirmed in trailers. These summons appear in Final Fantasy 16 as Eikons:
- Ifrit
- Garuda
- Phoenix
- Odin
- Bahamut
- Ramuh
- Shiva
- Titan
Without giving away any spoilers, these Eikons are at the core of the game’s story. The game revolves around a wartorn continent with each major force having an Eikon of its own.
What platforms is Final Fantasy 16 on?
Final Fantasy 16 is set to be a PlayStation 5 exclusive at launch. It will not be coming out on PlayStation 4.
While many notable PlayStation exclusives have been simultaneously launched on both PS4 and PS5, that won’t be the case with FF16. FF16 is specifically being designed as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, something that has Square Enix staff saying that fans shouldn’t hold out hope for ports launching any time soon.
Will FF16 come out on PC through Steam?
Final Fantasy 16 will likely come out on PC via Steam in 2024 or 2025.
While FF16 is set to be a limited-time exclusive for PlayStation consoles for six months, that doesn’t mean that ports are set to come out immediately after that window expires. Though one might see that Final Fantasy 16 has a June 22, 2023 release date and think “that means a PC version will be out just in time for Christmas,” Square Enix’s Naoki Yoshida pumped the brakes on that.
“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, but the PC version will not come out in half a year,” Yoshida said.
Yoshida states that FF16 was tailor-made for the PlayStation 5 and that getting it ready for other platforms will take longer than six months. While he strongly suggested that a PC port is in the works, fans will have to wait much longer than they’d like for the PC version to come out.
Thankfully, the strong reviews for the PC versions of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, and NieR Replicant suggest that it will be a solid port when it finally lands on other platforms. With its graphics and gameplay style, it should be a great game to pick up on the Steam Deck portable PC.
Will FF16 ever come out on Xbox?
Final Fantasy 16 is not going to come out on Xbox, in all likelihood. While a PC port seems to be in the works for 2024 or 2025, an Xbox version seems to be out of the question entirely.
While Final Fantasy isn’t strictly a PlayStation-exclusive series, with Final Fantasy 15 dropping simultaneously on PS4 and Xbox One and many other titles coming out on PC, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms, FF16 will not be among them. In the legal battle surrounding the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, Microsoft stated that Final Fantasy 16 and Konami’s remake of Silent Hill 2 will not be coming out on Xbox platforms, ever.
A major talking point on both sides of the court case has been the rapid consolidation of prominent publishers and developers, with Microsoft facing anti-trust claims. Neither Square Enix nor Sony have confirmed the news, but this isn’t a bold claim with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series seemingly set to remain off Xbox consoles as well.