On September 16, 2020, Square Enix and Sony announced Final Fantasy 16 as a timed PS5 exclusive during Sony's big PS5 event. That announcement was huge among many Final Fantasy fans, as both the ambition of the PS5 and the ambition of Final Fantasy 16 seemingly went hand-in-hand. And what followed its explosive reveal was equally enticing.
Square Enix promised Final Fantasy 16 players a mature experience, promised fans that development was going rather well, and promised everyone that more information would be coming in 2021. However, when looking at the stage set for the game in 2020 and the current stage in 2021, it's hard not to ask where Final Fantasy 16 is.
Final Fantasy 16 At The End of 2020
As aforementioned, Final Fantasy 16's reveal was easily explosive in scope yet tempered in how much it was showing. The trailer set it up as well as revealed its timed console exclusivity. Square Enix launched a website shortly after, detailing Final Fantasy 16's characters and settings, discussed the mature experience they were aiming for, and discussed how big 2021 was going to be. According to Final Fantasy 16's producer, 2021 was going to be the biggest year of his career, with big announcements for Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 16 taking place.
That's a huge claim, but given everything that has happened for Final Fantasy 14, it holds up there. In fact, Final Fantasy 14's surging popularity caused it to "sell out" at one point. Final Fantasy 16, on the other hand, has been a no show all year. It wasn't at Square Enix's E3 show, it hasn't been at any of Sony's State of Plays, and nearly 8 months into the year, there has been next to nothing to deliver on that promise. There's been a couple of small updates, like FF16 recording British English lines first for the first time and the fact that it's probably skipping Tokyo Game Show, but that's all. As a simple observation, it's not the year that was seemingly promised back in 2020 (which could be for any number of reasons that are at no fault to Square Enix).
Final Fantasy 16 in the First Half of 2021
In February 2021, there was a reason for this sort of silence revealed. Once again according to Final Fantasy 16's producer, Square Enix and he want to keep information close to the chest to prevent speculation and unrealistic expectations. On the one hand, this makes sense because, as seen with games like Cyberpunk 2077, unrealistic expectations and hype happens in the game industry. At the same time, the silence has the complete opposite effect. No doubt that when Final Fantasy 16 decides to show its hands, fans will be ready and willing to see more, but 2021 isn't being remembered as the year of Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 16. It's being remembered as the year of Final Fantasy 14.
Certainly, that's not a bad thing for the franchise, but Final Fantasy 16 came out swinging in 2020 just to go mute in 2021. If Square Enix didn't want to openly talk about it for several months, then waiting to reveal it could and may have been an option. Even Elden Ring, which went mute for two years, had unrealistic expectations and baseless speculation build up in the silence. It's not really certain what, if anything, changed in the past few months, but Final Fantasy 16 promised a big 2021 and it doesn't seem like it will deliver. Again, this could be for any number of reasons, including the pandemic, but it seems the biggest thing is at what point is Square Enix willing to communicate and, if it wasn't ready to deliver on said promises, why did it announce it last year.
Of course, a good showcase and release date announcement this year is not off the table. Perhaps Final Fantasy 16 will end 2021 with a bang at The Game Awards in December, maybe it'll appear at a different show, or maybe the update will come out of the blue. Either way, while there is time for Final Fantasy 16 to leave its mark on this year, it hasn't had a presence yet. And it's time to do so is dwindling.
Final Fantasy 16 is in development for PS5.