Summary
The PC version ofFinal Fantasy 16will require a solid-state disk (SSD), a senior Square Enix official has revealed. This insight into the upcoming port was offered mere months after the Japanese gaming giant officiallyannounced the PC version ofFinal Fantasy 16.
The latest mainline entry in the long-running JRPG franchise has long been touted as a timed PS5 exclusive. But even though theFinal Fantasy 16exclusivity deal with Sonyis about to run out in late December, the PC version of the game is still without a concrete release date, and almost certainly won’t be coming out until 2024, at the earliest.
And while the work on the RPG’s first-ever port is thus still ongoing, Square Enix has already decided that the PC version ofFinal Fantasy 16will require an SSD. Elaborating on that decision in a recent interview withFamitsu,FF16Producer Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida explained that a game like this has an inherent “hardware barrier” when it comes to figuring out a way to bring it to as many different PC configurations as possible.
That’s not to say thatFinal Fantasy 16won’t be as optimized as possible, just that no amount of fine-tuning can compensate for the relative lack of read speeds when it comes to running a modern game heavily reliant on quickly loading a bunch of assets, Yoshida remarked. As a result, the official concluded that he would like for any prospectiveFF16PC players to “think of SSDs as a must.” Yoshida also confirmed that the exact minimum and recommended PC system requirements forFinal Fantasy 16will be announced at a later date, once the port is closer to going gold.
I would like for you to think of SSDs as a must.
FF16 Continues the Trend of AAA PC Games Mandating SSDs
Square Enix is far from the first major game developer to start insisting on SSDs in recent times. Many AAA titles likeAssassin’s Creed Mirage,Alan Wake 2, andStarfieldhave also launched with an SSD requirementthroughout 2023, signaling that the era of ultra-budget PC gaming builds solely reliant on HDDs is finally coming to an end. Even most of the recent PC releases that don’t impose SSDs as a hard requirement, such asBaldur’s Gate 3, unsurprisingly have painfully slow loading times when played on an HDD.
Since both of the current-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft come equipped with solid-state disks, HDD-only rigs can hardly be considered as modern gaming PCs nowadays. On the bright side,reliable gaming SSDs currently start at under $100, and can often be picked up for much cheaper than that.
Final Fantasy 16
WHERE TO PLAY
An epic dark fantasy world where the fate of the land is decided by the mighty Eikons and the Dominants who wield them.This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. Before long, Clive will be caught up in a great tragedy and swear revenge on the Dark Eikon Ifrit, a mysterious entity that brings calamity in its wake.
