Square Enix’s latest Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy 16, recently turned six months old. At this point next year, FF16 will be more than eighteen months old with two of its post-launch expansions already out and, quite possibly, its PC port as well.
Square hasn’t confirmed when FF16 is headed to PC yet. The last we heard of the game was in December when, among other things, the game’s director, Naoki Yoshida, teased the heavy hardware requirements for it to run well on desktops, which is expected, the PlayStation 5, which is equivalent to a decent gaming PC, struggled to run it. But, while Square has its hands full shining the spotlight on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ahead of its release on February 29, content creator and industry insider, @Genki_JPN, highlighted a statement by Square last November.
As part of its most recent investor Q&A, Square Enix confirmed that, aside from being pleased with the sales of FF16 at the time, it plans to maximize the game’s sales over the next year and a half by releasing “downloadable content & the PC version when the timing is optimal.”
At the last investor Q&A Square Enix again stated that FF16 did meet expectations! 🔥 #FF16
"It was in line with our expectations. To maximize our sales of 'FF16' over an 18-month period, we intend to roll out downloadable content & the PC version when the timing is optimal" pic.twitter.com/smDQkJm5Wh
— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) January 18, 2024
Square released the first DLC for FF16, Echoes of the Fallen, on December 7, while The Rising Tide is set for Spring 2024, which is anywhere between March 19 and June 21. The best bet is for its release is in June, in time for FF16’s one-year anniversary and the usual annual June gaming festivities. Then, the PC port release date should be announced a few months later, possibly in August or September, ahead of its presumed December release to take advantage of the holiday season.
Before Square confirmed the PC port of FF16, we knew that it would make its way to other platforms already after one of its earlier trailers confirmed its timed exclusivity window on PlayStation 5, which technically ended in December. But, as we’ve already mentioned, Square has an upcoming third-party PS5-exclusive game coming in the next month in FF7 Rebirth. Afterwards, FF14’s highly anticipated Xbox release will be sometime this year, possibly between July and October, to make up for the lack of Final Fantasy 14 Fan Event this year (it only happens every two years).
Seeing as Square usually announces anything Final Fantasy related at a PlayStation event, we’ll most likely hear about The Rising Tide either next month, ahead of FF7 Rebirth’s release, or in April, similar to how the base game got its own solo State of Play presentation last year.
With that said, we’re expecting to hear a lot about Final Fantasy from Square this year as part of its massive plans for its best-selling franchise going forward.
If we’re lucky, we might just get confirmation of the long-rumored remakes of Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy Tactics.
