With less than one week until its launch, Square Enix has confirmed that physical copies of Final Fantasy 16 have leaked into the wild and that it is investigating “illegitimate acquisitions” and is “acting to limit” the damage they may cause ahead of the game’s June 22 release date. So, my friends, be careful out there as there may be spoilers on their way.
Square Enix shared the news on Twitter, and it also asked anyone who gets an early copy to please respect those who have yet to play it by not sharing any screenshots or videos and to refrain from doing any livestreams with the game until June 22.
A message from the Final Fantasy XVI team. #FF16 pic.twitter.com/EwJQRu9loB
— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) June 17, 2023
“We’re aware that a small number of physical copies of Final Fantasy XVI are being circulated,” Square Enix wrote. “We are in the process of a thorough investigation into illegitimate acquisitions and are acting to limit this ahead of the official launch of the game on June 22nd.
“For those who receive a copy ahead of launch, we kindly ask that you do not share any aspect of the game; including screenshots, videos, and livestreams, until after Final Fantasy XVI has officially launched.
“Our priority is to ensure that the full game experience is not spoiled for our fans, and to do that we will be taking down any images, videos, or streams published ahead of launch day. We ask for your assistance and cooperation in this final week ahead of launch.
“It’s almost June 22nd, and we can’t wait for you to experience the full game the way the development team intended.”
If you can’t wait for Final Fantasy 16, you’ll be happy to know a playable demo is now available on PS5 that features the first couple hours of the game and will transfer your save data to the full game.
If you’d like to know what we’ve thought of the game, be sure to check out our hands-on preview of the first four hours, where we said, “From what I’ve seen so far, the future looks very bright for Final Fantasy 16.”
For more, don’t miss any of our IGN First coverage of Final Fantasy 16, including a mid-game boss battle, 18 minutes of dungeon-crawling gameplay, how side quests affect the story and vice versa, and how the game’s New Game+ will bring a whole new challenge.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
