Videos by ComicBook.com
It remains to be seen whether Square Enix would be able to deliver a version of Final Fantasy XVI on Nintendo Switch 2 that doesn’t feel like a major downgrade from the other versions. However, we’re already seeing third-party developers pull off games that would have been completely impossible on the original Switch. The best example so far is Cyberpunk 2077, which has already gained significant praise from players, and has released to strong sales. CD Projekt Red devoted a lot of time and effort into making a Switch 2 version that feels substantial and worth experiencing, and the developers have been rewarded as a result.
Final Fantasy XVI was initially released as a timed exclusive on PS5, but Square Enix is starting to move away from this practice. After multiple games failed to meet sales expectations, the publisher has started to place greater emphasis on multiplatform releases instead. We’ve already seen that benefit Xbox users, and we know of at least one former exclusive that will be coming to Nintendo Switch 2 later this year: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Last month, that game’s co-director Naoki Hamaguchi stated that he has “high hopes that we can build a strong partnership between Nintendo and the Final Fantasy brand.”
Presumably, Hamaguchi was referring to bringing over the rest of the Final Fantasy Remake Trilogy to the system. However, porting another acclaimed Final Fantasy game to Nintendo Switch 2 would be a way to continue building that partnership. Of course, there are other options that would make sense on the system, including Final Fantasy XV; while the game’s Pocket Edition was released on Switch several years ago, the original has never been made available on a Nintendo platform.
