FinalFantasy 16 (opens in new tab) producer Naoki Yoshida has rather cheekily brushed aside discussions of a PC port for the game, telling fans to “buy a PS5” if they want to play it. He continued by asking, “Why does it seem like a PC version is being released six months later?”
It’s possible he’s forgetting Square Enix’s PlayStation Showcase Reveal Trailer (opens in new tab) for Final Fantasy 16, because that’s why. The existence of a PC version of the upcoming RPG has been odd. The aforementioned reveal trailer very visibly added a footnote that while the game was a PlayStation exclusive, it would also release on PC. Despite that, Square Enix seems to have since gone to great lengths to deny the port’s existence. All traces of a PC announcement are gone. The closest we’ve come is a recent trailer (opens in new tab) saying the game is “unavailable on other platforms until December 31, 2023”.
Going by Square Enix’s own words, one of those “other platforms” will inevitably be PC, but Yoshida is very coy about the whole thing. During the day a mahjong live stream (opens in new tab) for Final Fantasy 14 – the other game in the series that Yoshida leads – the subject of Final Fantasy 16’s PC port came up. According to a translation from Genki_JPN on Twitter, Yoshida claimed that “no one has said a word about releasing a PC version”, adding “why is it like a PC version is released six months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5!”
Yoshi-P on Final Fantasy XVI PC Version Rumors!” , get a PS5! (laughs) ) Sorry I went overboard We did our best so please look forward to it” lol pic.twitter.com/o5i1JsNnbcJanuary 9, 2023
He continued: “Sorry I went overboard. We did our best so please look forward to it.” It definitely seems like Yoshida can’t or won’t say much on platforms outside of the PlayStation 5 at this point, which is understandable. With six months of exclusivity on a single console, Square Enix will undoubtedly want to see good sales there. Talk of a solid PC or Xbox release might poke a few holes in that plan, which explains why Yoshida is half-jokingly going all in on the PlayStation 5. It’s certainly not an outright denial of the existence of a future PC port, but rather a nice diversion into making sales on the PS5.
Regardless of Yoshida’s comments, the the chance of a PC port in early or mid 2024 seems reasonable (opens in new tab). Looking at the gap between the end of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake exclusivity deal and its PC release, we might be waiting a few months past December 2023 to play.