Square Enix Wants to Release Final Fantasy 16 on Xbox After PC Port

Gaming

Final Fantasy XVI released exclusively on the PS5 in 2023, and the game finally made it to PC last month. The action-RPG is still not available on Xbox, with no confirmed launch plans on Microsoft’s console. Now, publisher Square Enix has provided an update over Final Fantasy 16’s potential release on Xbox Series S/X.

Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox

According to Final Fantasy 16 producer and industry legend Naoki Yoshida, popularly knowns as Yoshi-P, Square Enix wants to release an Xbox port for FFXVI, but the company can’t yet confirm a timeline for the same.

“Of course we did announce the PC version of the game, so looking towards the Xbox version, we do want to release it on Xbox,” Yoshida said in a Video Games interview published last week. “But when it comes to the specifics such as when the game would be available and such, we are not in a position to be able to share anything,” he added.

The producer, however, asked Xbox players to not give up hope, saying that Square Enix very much wanted the game to be ported to Xbox. “But of course, I want to say that it’s not as if there’s zero hope, and we very much do want to achieve that. So players should not give up in terms of their hopes.”

Neither Square Enix not Microsoft have yet confirmed an Xbox port of Final Fantasy 16.

Final Fantasy 16 first launched on the PS5 on June 22, 2023. The game recently made the jump to PC, launching on Steam and Epic Games Store on September 17. A Complete Edition, that bundles Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide expansions with the main game, was also recently launched on the PS5.

Square Enix has launched its recent Final Fantasy games exclusively on the PS5, a strategy that has ended up hurting sales. Earlier this year, the publisher said in an earnings report that sales of recent big-budget games were disappointing. According to company CEO Takashi Kiryu, sales of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Final Fantasy XVI and Foamstars — all PlayStation exclusives — fell short of expectations in terms of both revenue and profit.

As a result, Square Enix has since undergone considerable restructuring and is moving away from its practice of releasing its major titles first on PlayStation. According to Kiryu, going forward, big releases will be multi-platform launches, available across PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PC.