GamerEscape

Today, Square Enix is holding a special pre-launch event for Final Fantasy XVI. The event also marked the first occasion where the new President and CEO of Square Enix, Takashi Kiryu, addressed fans before introducing Naoki Yoshida to the stage.

During the Keynote, Yoshida made several announcements, which we’ll go into detail about below.

Final Fantasy XVI Demo

The Final Fantasy XVI demo will go live on the PlayStation Store on June 12th. The timing of it will vary by region so make sure to check out the above image for your local time. The demo will feature Final Fantasy XVI’s prologue, allowing you to carry over your demo progress to the full game. Once players finish the prologue, a special battle mode will unlock, giving players a chance to see what the later game will play like.

Outside Help

Final Fantasy XVI‘s gameplay is very action-focused, much more so than even other recent releases in the series like Final Fantasy VII Remake. In order to create this new style of gameplay, Square Enix brought on the former Devil May Cry 5 battle designer Ryota Suzuki as the game’s combat designer. But they didn’t stop there. They also enlisted help from outside Creative Business Unit III. During two video messages, it was revealed that both Platinum Games and the Kingdom Hearts development team (Creative Business Unit IV) contributed to Final Fantasy XVI‘s development. Naoki Yoshida didn’t reveal which parts each team worked on, but mentioned they will announce those details sometime after the game is released.

Torgal Plushies and Other Merchandise

By popular demand, Yoshida announced that they are releasing not one, but two different Torgal plushies that can be pre-ordered on the Square Enix Store starting today. In addition to that, there will be a flocked Moogle figurine, and several pieces of jewelry.

All images courtesy of Square Enix.