As expected, one of the most anticipated announcements of yesterday's State Of Play did happen and 2023 will be the year that Square Enix writes another page in its history with Final Fantasy with the presentation of Final Fantasy XVI.

Timed-exclusive for the Playstation 5, the 16th entry of the Final Fantasy series will officially arrive during Summer 2023 as we are inValisthea, where the people live comfortably thanks to mountains of crystal called the Mothercrystals. The world is controlled by six factions: the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, the Kingdom of Waloed, the Dhalmekian Republic, the Iron Kingdom, and the Crystalline Dominion. A central part of the plot are the Eikons, summoned monsters controlled by or manifesting through humans called Dominants.

The main cast includes Clive Rosfield, Joshua Rosfield, and Jill Warrick. Clive is the firstborn child of the Archduke of Rosaria who embarks on a quest for revenge after tragic events involving the dark Eikon Ifrit. Joshua Rosfield, Clive's younger brother, is the Dominant of the Eikon Phoenix and heir apparent to Rosaria. Jill Warrick, a girl from the fallen Northern Territories is Clive and Joshua's foster sister and confidant. 

Mechanic will share most of what we had been introduced so far on FFXV which include Clive's fighting abilities using a combination of melee-based sword attacks and magical abilities, as well RPG driven development of Clive.

This time, the summoned monsters are called Eikons and so far confirmed are the Final Fantasy Heavyweights veterans like Odin, Bahamut, and Ifrit.

While there is no specific date as Summer practically covers between July through September (I get the feeling that Square Enix will see a September as a perfect and most stretchable timeslot), we expect that marketing starts by the E3 2023 season.