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Final Fantasy 16 has gone gold

Final Fantasy 16 wraps up initial development ahead of its June launch.

Donovan Erskine

March 31, 2023 8:38 AM

Square Enix

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Final Fantasy 16 is one of this year’s most anticipated video game releases. Slated for a June window, it’ll release close to other major games such as Street Fighter 6, Diablo 4, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. As that launch gets closer, developer Square Enix has shared an important development update. Final Fantasy 16 has gone gold, and is on track to make its June release date in just a couple of months.

Square Enix announced Final Fantasy 16’s development status in a tweet earlier today. “From the entire team, including Torgal, we hope you're looking forward to #FF16's launch on June 22nd,” the tweet reads. “Going gold” is a term used to describe the phase in game development when a game is ready to be printed on discs and shipped to retailers. It doesn’t mean that all development is done, as Square Enix will surely supply FF16 with updates to address potential bugs and issues.

Final Fantasy XVI has gone gold.

From the entire team, including Torgal, we hope you're looking forward to #FF16's launch on June 22nd 🐺 pic.twitter.com/Vrtd3cMNW5

— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) March 31, 2023

Although the definition of going gold has evolved in the digital age, it’s still an important milestone for a video game, especially a large-scale AAA project like Final Fantasy 16. It means that the game is essentially assured to hit its June release date.

Final Fantasy 16 was first revealed back in 2020 at the PS5 showcase. Since then, we’ve learned about the game’s story, characters, and gameplay through trailers released by Square Enix. It won’t be long until fans can dive in and enjoy all that FF16 has to offer.

Final Fantasy 16 will be released on June 22, 2023, for PS5. The game will also come to PC, but that version won’t be ready on day one. Earlier this week, another major upcoming video game went gold as Nintendo announced that development had finished on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_