Square Enix launched Final Fantasy XV in November 2016 into massive success, but according to the game's director, the next game in the long-running RPG franchise will be "even bigger and better."
Final Fantasy XV is continuing to grow, with more content to be added and more versions of the open-world RPG to be rolled out. The game famously spent 10 years in development, and for fans of the series, many would hope that it would not take another decade before Final Fantasy XVI is rolled out.
'Final Fantasy XV' Will Lead To An Even More Amazing 'Final Fantasy XVI'
In an interview with GameSpot at PAX West 2017, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata talked not only about what's next for Final Fantasy XV, but also for what lies in the future of the storied franchise.
According to Tabata, sales for Final Fantasy XV has already reached more than 6.5 million units, with more to come for the game as it expands into other platforms. The Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition will be released in early 2018, while the Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition will arrive to mobile devices later and, allegedly, also to the Nintendo Switch in the near future. The Final Fantasy XV Comrades DLC, which adds multiplayer gameplay to the RPG, is also coming soon.
It is safe to say that Final Fantasy XV is a success, but it appears that Tabata and Square Enix already have one eye looking forward to the franchise's future. According to Tabata, the development team made a lot of progress during the creation of Final Fantasy XV and its additional content, with learnings on how to make the process even better.
"When it comes time to work on our next project--taking everything we did--we're gonna do it even bigger and better, when that time comes," Tabata noted, with his statement not revealing how far along Square Enix is in planning for Final Fantasy XVI.
Tabata, however, added that there is no assurance that Final Fantasy XVI will feature the same open-world environment as Final Fantasy XV. However, he did claim that the overall experience of gamers playing within a massive area will be included in the next project. Final Fantasy XV, in addition to another popular open world title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, will largely influence the development of Final Fantasy XVI, Tabata said.
'Final Fantasy XV' PC Version Mods
Another topic that Tabata touched is the plans to allow players to create and apply mods to Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition.
Tabata and the development team are aware that mods is a huge part of the PC gaming community, and as such, will take a largely "hands-off" approach and see how everything shakes out.
Depending on how things turn out, Square Enix will provide more modding tools, while hoping that users take advantage of mods and use them "in good taste." We can all expect nude mods to come very quickly to the PC version of Final Fantasy XV though, so let's see what happens.
