Naoki Yoshida presents a new Final Fantasy XVI trailer at The Game Awards

To cap-off the barrage of announcements and trailers unleashed during The Game Awards was a new trailer and release date for the latest single-player installment of the Final Fantasy series. Game director Naoki Yoshida made his first ever appearance at The Game Awards to present Final Fantasy XVI’s newest trailer and shared the game’s release date — June 22nd.

The Revenge trailer was very short but very bloody, revisiting one of the first moments of Final Fantasy XVI fans got to see. Because of all the blood, the trailer’s been slapped with a content warning meaning you’ll have to go to YouTube to watch.

Because of the covid-19 pandemic, updates on the game have been sparse since its first announcement in 2020. But it seems like the game’s marketing machine is starting to spin up in earnest. Earlier this year we got two new trailers highlighting the characters, story, and gameplay.

Developed under the leadership of one of the hardest working people at Square Enix, game director Naoki Yoshida, Final Fantasy XVI looks like it combines all the vast political intrigue of Final Fantasy XII with the fluid action battle systems of FFXV and Final Fantasy VII Remake. In an interview with Yoshida, he talked about how eikon battles — big fights featuring Final Fantasy summon monsters — were one of the most important aspects of the game to get right. For the first time in the series’ history you’ll be able to control them outright instead of issuing them commands in battle or them acting on their own.

“We have these epic summon versus summon battles,” Yoshida told The Verge. “And these are not only going to be in cutscenes. The players will be able to actually get into those battles and control an eikon of their own and feel the excitement from the inside, not just from an outside type of view.”

The wait is almost at an end, Final Fantasy XVI comes as a timed exclusive to PlayStation 5 on June 22nd.