Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has asked fans to please not make “offensive or inappropriate” mods upon the game’s PC release tomorrow, September 17.
Yoshida wouldn’t comment on any specific mods he wants to see in Final Fantasy 16 in an interview with PC Gamer, though made clear what he doesn’t want to see.
“If we said, ‘it’d be great if someone made X, Y, Z,’ it might come across as a request, so I’ll avoid mentioning any specifics here,” Yoshida said. “The only thing I will say is that we definitely don’t want to see anything offensive or inappropriate, so please don’t make or install anything like that.”
Mods allow players to create custom content for games, often resulting in incredibly useful gameplay changes such as the ability to play Elden Ring with friends seamlessly, or major additions such as an entire new expansion for Fallout 4 or the ability to play as custom characters in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Due to the nature of the internet, however, many mods are also, as Yoshida put it, “offensive or inappropriate.” While cheating is one thing, fellow publisher Capcom expressed concern in November 2023 that “there are a number of mods that are offensive to public order and morals” which cause damage to the property itself.
Final Fantasy 16 arrives on PC after lots of back and forth from developer Square Enix. The original reveal trailer claimed blatantly the game is “also available on PC,” and while Square Enix mysteriously scrapped this claim soon after, its status as a PlayStation 5 exclusive was brought into question again in November 2022 when an advertisement for the PS5’s DualSense controller said Final Fantasy 16 would only be a “PS5 exclusive for six months.”
Yoshida himself then denied a PC version existed at all. “Nobody said a word about a PC version releasing,” he said, incorrectly. “Why is it like a PC version is releasing six months later? Don’t worry about that, buy a PS5. Sorry, I went overboard. We did our best, so please look forward to it.”
Yoshida then admitted in February 2023 it’s true that “Final Fantasy 16 is a six-month limited time exclusive on the PS5” but “the PC version will not come out in half a year.” This is because the team wouldn’t be able to start development until the PS5 version launched in June that year.
Finally, however, the role-playing game was announced for PC in August 2024, with the aforementioned September 17 release date. This came after Final Fantasy 16 failed to meet the expectations of Square Enix alongside other PlayStation exclusives including Foamstars and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, prompting a shift to an aggressive multiplatform strategy going forward.
Yoshida made clear in August that Square Enix would be doubling down on Xbox releases following this change in strategy, while Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai said future games in the franchise would likely come to PC on launch.
In our 9/10 review of the PC version, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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