Final Fantasy XVI could be a PlayStation 5 timed exclusive, it’s claimed

Final Fantasy XVI looks set to be a PlayStation 5 timed exclusive game, according to an insider with a recent history of reliable news leaks.

Ahead of June’s PS5 software showcase, ResetEra forum member Navtra correctly revealed a large portion of the event’s announcements.

The user said that Sony would show a new Ratchet & Clank title (Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart), a LittleBigPlanet spin-off (Sackboy A Big Adventure), Gran Turismo 7, Horizon 2 for release in 2021 (Horizon Forbidden West), a Spider-Man 2 teaser (Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales), a Demon’s Souls remake, and a new IP from Square Enix (Project Athia).

Navtra was also the first to leak that Square Enix would announce Marvel’s Avengers PlayStation exclusive DLC, which didn’t happen at the event but did this Monday, when the publisher confirmed that the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game will get Spider-Man as a playable character in early 2021.

Finally, the user predicted that Final Fantasy XVI would be revealed during the PS5 showcase – the only prediction yet to be confirmed.

In a new post this week (spotted by Wccftech), Navtra claimed: “XVI is real. It was supposed to get announced in June’s event. It’s supposedly closer than most people would think.

The user added: “It has some kind of PS5 exclusivity (it was vague back then but it seems to be full timed exclusivity now). And I have no idea why they haven’t announced it yet.”

Square Enix said in June that it was planning to reveal several new games originally intended to debut at E3 “around July to August” instead. The co-creators of Sonic the Hedgehog unveiled new Square Enix action game Balan Wonderworld in late July.

Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda said in January that the company was “making steady progress” on next-gen console titles while also developing cloud-native games.

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And during a financial results briefing in February, Matsuda said PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X backwards compatibility meant the company wasn’t planning to release next-gen exclusives for some time.

The publisher claimed in March that its “2020 line-up, and the next-generation that lies beyond, is stronger than ever for Square Enix”.

Sony announced on Monday that it will stream a new State of Play presentation on August 6 but told fans not to expect any “big PS5 announcements”. However, the company is reportedly lining up a PS5 announcement for later this month.