Final Fantasy XVI on PC: there's possible good news on DLC, and bad news on the spec (for some)

Final Fantasy XVI is coming to the PC next year, and we just got some more details on the port, bringing some good news regarding bundling the DLC, and some not so great news as to the potential minimum hardware requirements.

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The info was spilled in an interview conducted by Famitsu (a Japanese magazine) with producer of the game Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida.

In the interview, Yoshi-P suggested that the PC release would come complete with both expansions, and as that second DLC for Final Fantasy XVI is due in the spring of 2024, we can perhaps hope that the port will arrive on PC then, or shortly thereafter (fingers crossed - though from previous hints, it may well take longer).

Famitsu also asked about the PC spec requirements, and while Yoshida wouldn't be drawn to tell us anything concrete yet, we did get a hint that an SSD is likely going to be part of the spec - a hard drive just won't cut it.

Yoshi-P observed that Final Fantasy XVI is a game where loading speed is critical, and a hard disk would be "difficult to use."

Yoshida said they're doing their best to optimize the game for PC as much as possible, as you'd expect, but then cautioned that "we cannot solve the hardware barrier alone, so please consider that an SSD is a must."

Bear in mind all of this is translated from a Japanese article to English (thanks, Google), so there could be nuances missing here, but the last statement seems clear enough on the viability - or lack of it - of running Final Fantasy XVI on a plain old hard drive.

Naturally, any decent gaming PC these days has an SSD, but this still may be a disappointment to a niche of PC gamers who haven't upgraded yet.

Yoshida noted that the exact hardware specs for the game would be announced at another time, but didn't drop any hints as to when that might be.

There are a growing number of games stipulating an SSD as part of recommended requirements, and in some cases, hard-and-fast minimum requirements, the latter including Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077 (following its big update).

Hopes are high for Final Fantasy XVI given that its predecessor turned out very well on the PC platform.

As noted though, when Yoshi-P was quizzed about the game's PC port and when it might arrive given the six month window of exclusivity for PS5, the producer made some remarks suggesting it wouldn't be a swift process to optimize for PC, and to do a good job moreover.

Hence it could well be later in 2024 before we see the PC port emerge, but as ever, time will tell.