Final Fantasy 16 was successful in attracting younger players, says DLC director
The series has been moving away from its turn-based combat roots to widen its appeal
Final Fantasy 16 has succeeded in attracting a younger audience to the series, according to DLC director Takeo Kujiraoka.
Prior to its release last year, Square Enix said it had decided not to include turn-based combat in the game with the goal of appealing to a wider market.
And Kujiraoka told Push Square that Final Fantasy 16’s action-based combat had helped the publisher achieve this goal to some degree.
“In recent years, players of the Final Fantasy series have tended to skew towards a higher age range,” he told Push Square. “However, this time there are survey results showing that more people in their teens and 20s played Final Fantasy 16.”
“I think this shows that, to a certain extent, we’ve achieved one of our initial goals – to have players of all ages play the latest Final Fantasy game.”
“This doesn’t mean that all future Final Fantasy games will take a similar direction to Final Fantasy 16,” Kujiraoka added, “but I do think it means that we’ve been able to bring new players on board and open new possibilities for the development teams that will work on future instalments in the series.”
Fantasy 16’s second story DLC, The Rising Tide, will be released on April 18. Priced at $19.99, it follows the game’s first expansion, Echoes of the Fallen, which arrived in December priced at $9.99 / £7.99.
Players can purchase the Final Fantasy 16 Expansion Pass, which includes access to both DLC packs, for $24.99 / £19.99.
Further reading
Final Fantasy 16 ditched turn-based combat to appeal to younger generations, producer says
Producer Yoshida recently said it’s unlikely there will be more Final Fantasy 16 DLC after the two announced expansions, although he wouldn’t rule it out entirely.
A PC version of the game is in development and is expected to be released within the next year.
