Why Final Fantasy 16 Is A PlayStation 5 Exclusive

Square Enix has remained close to PlayStation since the surprise reveal of Final Fantasy XVI as a PlayStation 5 Exclusive in 2020. Be it State of Plays, PlayStation Showcases, or even PlayStation Blogs, it’s clear Final Fantasy XVI is a big release for Sony. 

During my cover story trip to Square Enix’s Tokyo, Japan, offices, I asked producer Naoki Yoshida how developer Creative Business Unit III feels about the game’s PS5 exclusivity and what that does for the studio in terms of development. He says it’s important to distinguish that CBUIII doesn’t go into game development thinking it wants to limit a game to just one platform or company. When the team started development on FFXVI, the studio “looked at all options,” Yoshida says. 

Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida

Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida

“Final Fantasy, being one of Square Enix’s very important franchises up there with Dragon Quest and the Kingdom Hearts series – when we do begin development, we do approach multiple platforms, multiple companies, about releasing the game. And when you approach them, they’re going to come back to us with their offers.” 

Square Enix, the team, and Square Enix will then review all these offers and determine what is most appropriate for this project. In this case, Square Enix liked PlayStation’s offer best; it doesn’t hurt that PlayStation and Square Enix have a decades-long relationship resulting in various Square Enix exclusives on PlayStation consoles.

Yoshida explains that CBUIII is aiming to have as many users as possible worldwide play the game. 

“That said, from a developer and programmer perspective, limiting development to one system makes it not only easier on us but allows us the ability to optimize it,” he continues. “And that allows us the ability to maximize performance for that one system because we’re only concentrating on that one system.”

On top of that, Yoshida says the team gets a lot of help from the first party – PlayStation in this instance – and its developers and programmers who help CBUIII maximize a game’s performance. 

“It allows us to create the game that we want to create [and] it makes it easier for us to do that.” 

For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.