Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has provided some details on why the game will be a timed PS5 exclusive for at least six months. Essentially, it boils down to Sony providing “generous support” for FF16, particularly in technical terms and their ability to bring the game to market in the future.
Sony helped optimize FF16 and will provide promotional support
In an interview with Japanese site 4Gamer (translated by Genji_JPN on Twitter), Yoshida was keen to explain the PS5 exclusivity as he suspects fans aren’t quite sure why Square Enix would sign these kinds of deals in the first place. He says:
This time there was a part where we were developing with SIE engineers who know the hardware inside out and we got generous optimization support that we couldn’t handle on our own, etc.
Additionally, Yoshida says Sony will help do “promotions together globally.” Additionally, not having to build Final Fantasy 16 for multiple platforms at launch means Square Enix could “put more man-hours into things like game creation and optimization.” Having technical and promotional support was a big factor in the decision to make FF16 a timed PS5 exclusive.
A lot of news regarding Final Fantasy 16 has been revealed in the last few days, Yoshida also explained why the game is not possible on PS4 and that the game will have an Arcade mode and a leaderboard. Director Hiroshi Takai said the game’s structure was inspired by God of War. A demo of the game will be released approximately two weeks before the game’s launch.