With Square Enix's multiplatform strategy, it was only a matter of time before the PlayStation exclusives surrounding Final Fantasy finally dropped. In fact, this was already the case since the contracts had expired, but until then, the Xbox Series had been deprived of certain titles from the Japanese publisher's cult RPG saga. During the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, the company did, however, deliver two huge, long-awaited surprises. One of them was the Final Fantasy 16 port, but for now, it's a cold shower for Xbox Series players.
A complicated start for Final Fantasy 16 on Xbox Series
In the middle of Summer Game Fest 2025, Final Fantasy fans got two nice surprises with the official announcement of the ports of FF7 Remake and FF16. While the first game won't be available until winter 2025, the second, announced, is already playable on Xbox Series X|S. And the launch of the latter on Microsoft consoles seems to be encountering several difficulties. First of all, the port of FF16 on Xbox Series X|S is not yet living up to its promises, according to the technical analysis carried out by Digital Foundry. The team notes several issues, such as a "spectacular" disparity in the rendering of vegetation, for example, compared to the PS5 version.
Final Fantasy 16's resolution on Xbox Series X|S is also lower in both game modes. In "Quality," it's 1440p for the PlayStation 5 versus 1224p on Series X, with the added issue of foliage rendering. But it's in "Performance" where it's a bit more of a letdown. Here, the Xbox Series X|S version doesn't go above 720p, although with a locked 60fps framerate. This port of FF16 therefore has the advantage of being more stable in terms of fluidity, but with a compromise on image quality.
In addition to the technical and graphical hiccups, the launch of Final Fantasy 16 would seem like a big cold shower for this game, which is eagerly awaited by many players, according to Alinea Analytics. The figures should be taken with a grain of salt, but apparently, sales would amount to only 22,000 copies on Xbox Series X|S. If so, for such a license and a game that was appreciated despite the flaws noted, it would be a commercial flop. It remains to be seen whether Square Enix will confirm this data in a future financial statement.
Source: Lakrixx, Digital Foundry.
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