Final Fantasy 16 Will Receive a Demo Shortly Before Launch

More and more details continue to filter through for Final Fantasy 16 as we get closer to its 2023 launch, and as you’d expect, that momentum is going to keep on building up in the weeks and months to come. While that will, of course, entail new trailers and information on story and gameplay being unveiled, it turns out Square Enix also plans to release a demo for the RPG prior to its full release.

Speaking in a recent interview with Dengeki Online, when asked about when fans can expect more details on Final Fantasy 16, producer Naoki Yoshida said that many more details will be arriving roughly three months before the game’s launch. In addition to that, Square Enix will also release a demo for the game- though the company wants that to happen not too long before its full release.

“If the information is released too early, the excitement won’t be maintained until the release, so I think it’s about three months before the release that the information will be released,” Yoshida said. “We also plan to distribute a trial version, but we intend to do it with the momentum of ‘soon to be released as soon as it is released.’ Nowadays, entertainment is overflowing, so I want to cherish freshness.”

That Square Enix plans to build up to an upcoming game’s launch with the release of a demo isn’t exactly surprising – the company tends to do that for the vast majority of its titles, if not all of them. The timing of the demo’s launch obviously remains unknown- that said, the last major Final Fantasy release, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, got its demo a little over a month before its full launch, so maybe that’s the pattern that Square Enix plans on following again.

Recently, it was confirmed that Final Fantasy 16’s development is roughly 95% complete, with the team currently focused primarily on debugging. Its specific release date is likely to be announced before the end of the year- read more on that through here.

Plenty of other details have also emerged on the game of late. Final Fantasy 16’s main story will be roughly 35-40 hours long, while it will also feature plenty of side stories throughout its main narrative, on top of a New Game Plus option. The game will also feature a prominent female protagonist.

Final Fantasy 16 is set to launch exclusively for the PS5 in Summer 2023.