Last night, Final Fantasy 16 appeared as part of Sony’s PS Plus subscription, but has since been removed.
Images of the game’s store listing were shared on social media, indicating its availability as part of the PS Plus game catalogue.
All references to PS Plus have since been removed, suggesting this was simply an error. However, it’s got fans speculating an official inclusion could be on the way.
The PS Plus listing was shared by Wario64 and NextGenPlayer on social media, though this was specifically the US store.
This morning on the UK store, there’s no mention of PS Plus.
Eurogamer has contacted Square Enix for clarification.
The company has just announced the forthcoming PC release of Final Fantasy 16 on 17th September, for which a demo is currently available. This means the game will no longer be a PS5 exclusive, all as part of Square Enix’s new multiplatform strategy.
The potential inclusion of Final Fantasy 16 on PS Plus would come after its release in June 2023 and would follow the likes of Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII – Reunion, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin as recent games from the series available on the subscription platform.
Could an Xbox release also follow? At Gamescom, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida discussed Square Enix’s intention to “further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers” following the release of MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 on Microsoft’s console earlier this year.
“At Square Enix, we have been changing our policy,” he said. “So now we are moving towards the policy of releasing our games on a multiplatform basis, and we really want as many players as possible to play our titles. So with Final Fantasy 14 as the starting point, we do want to release more Square Enix games on Xbox, and there will be more of our titles released on Xbox. So I hope players will look forward to future things to come on the platform.”