Final Fantasy 16 looks pretty good huh? Our very own Alex Donaldson received huge glowing praise for the game in his preview that came out yesterday, and (in the preview) me too didn’t have a bad word to say about it. It looks like it’s going to be awesome. A real tour de force for the PlayStation 5. And the developers seem to be just as confident in the game.
As well as the brilliant comments we saw from the developers during the media tour (giving us gems like “Final Fantasy 16 will feature Geordies‘), there’s something special about the big Game Informer cover that’s been picked up and shared over the past few days: Final Fantasy 16 will not have a day one patch.
Now, you might think that’s a bit strange – I can’t even think of a single major triple-class game of this magnitude that launched in the last few years without a day one patch. Even Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had one, so Nintendo isn’t immune to the newfangled habit.
Director Hiroshi Takai said in an interview with the publication Game informant that there are currently no plans to update more action than RPG at launch. Takai noted that the game had been in the works for so long (and there was so much delays) that he’s in such a safe place, he doesn’t need a day one patch. Imagine this.
This does not mean that the game will not be updated. There may be elements of the title that are not widely accepted, such as when the game launches, and the developers may want to adjust that. The team might want to look into some difficulty settings or rebalance some silly final boss when your least favorite YouTuber finds some disgusting cheese to kill in one hit.
Whatever happens, though, it looks like Square Enix is pretty confident that you won’t have to download some flashy 9GB patch before you can start playing on day one, because this Final Fantasy – unlike Final Fantasy 15, eg – it looks like it will be finished after launch.
Final Fantasy 16 will be released on June 22, 2023 for the PlayStation 5. There’s no word on whether the game will be coming to PC or other consoles in the future (but he will not arrive elsewhere for at least six months).