Final Fantasy XVI in ‘Final Stages’ of Development

The UNIQLO x Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary collection officially hit stores today, both in Japan and here in the US. In Japan, a magazine of some sort was produced as part of the promotion. Inside the magazine, new commentary from producer Naoki Yoshida claims Final Fantasy XVI is on its way to going gold.

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This information comes from an English translation provided by Twitter user @aitaikimochi who is a Twitch streamer and hobbyist translator largely focusing on Square Enix output. The translation of Yoshida’s comments also includes messaging meant to assure people the game is a player-focused, complete story rather than something resembling Yoshida’s other major project. You know, the one with the free trial that includes the entire first expansion for free. I won’t write the whole meme out this time.

Thanks to projects like Final Fantasy XV and VII Remake’s long and troubled development times, jokes about XVI, Kingdom Hearts IV and of course whatever’s following VII Remake taking several years are the norm. That said, Square Enix recently transitioned from using in-house engines (save for Forspoken on Luminous) to Unreal, as far back as Dragon Quest XI. Extenuating circumstances aside, leaning on Unreal (and some restructuring) seems to have sped up the ol’ Square Enix conveyor belt.