Final Fantasy XVI reveals its release date and surprises at The Game Awards 2022

The video game industry is overflowing with leaks lately. Geoff Keighley, master of ceremonies for The Game Awards 2022, knows a thing or two about this, having suffered from them a few times already. And companies are right there with it. Final Fantasy XVI, Square Enix’s long awaited JRPG, is also a victim of this, but at the very least its trailer wasn’t revealed until the show. Just as it was rumored and leaked, the game is releasing on June 22, 2023, exclusively for PS5. It’s also up for preorder!

Naoki Yoshida, producer for Final Fantasy XVI and director of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, was the one in charge of presenting the title during TGA 2022. The trailer gave us a lot to talk about, going deep into some of the most important elements of the upcoming RPG: an adventure inside of a dark fantasy world ruled by magic. The delicate balance between war and peace is about to be broken. Will anyone survive the battle?

Peace is gone in Final Fantasy XVI

In Valisthea, the land shines bright with the light of the Mother Crystals, clusters of it strewn about the kingdoms with their splendor. Inside these nations, the people can cast spells and live a life of luxury and prosperity. So it was during generations, until the uneasy peace among the different kingdoms began to crack. Now, the player will experience an epic adventure that will not shy away from mature content.

There is no creature as powerful as an Eikon. Square Enix explained that each of them lies within a chosen human, who in turn are called Dominants, that have the ability to summon them. In some nations, their power is admired and they are given positions of nobility. In others they are seen only as tools of war at the service of a society that hates them.

Final Fantasy XVI is a timed exclusive for the PS5 for at least 6 months. The game will be released over 5 years after the last entry to the series launched, which was developed by the studio behind Forspoken, a new IP exclusive to Sony’s newest generation of consoles and PC.