Naoki Yoshida, director of Final Fantasy XVI, has addressed the lack of diversity depicted in the game.
In an interview with IGN, Yoshida answered why the Square Enix title featured mostly white characters in the recent trailer. "This is a difficult question, but not one that was unexpected, seeing as diversity in entertainment media has become a much-discussed topic as of late," Yoshida said. "The answer I have, however, may end up being disappointing to some depending on individual expectations," he remarked.
Final Fantasy XIV Claims Diveristy Lack Due to Setting
In terms of the lack of diversity, Yoshida mentioned the game's setting of medieval Europe as "necessary to limit the scope to a single landmass." Yoshida elaborated, "Due to the underlying geographical, technological, and geopolitical constraints of this setting, Valisthea was never going to realistically be as diverse as say a modern-day Earth... or even Final Fantasy XIV that has an entire planet (and moon) worth of nations, races, and cultures at its disposal."
While the game development team felt ethnic diversity was important to Final Fantasy XVI, Yoshida remarked on the challenge to "assign distinctive ethnicities to either antagonist or protagonist without triggering audience preconceptions, inviting unwarranted speculation, and ultimately stoking flames of controversy." The Square Enix game's director stressed they wanted to focus less on the "outward appearances" of characters and more on "who they are as people." For example, their "natures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and motivations."
In July 2022, Yoshida commented on the inability to develop Final Fantasy XVI as an open-world game. He blamed simply the lack of time to create such an element. According to Yoshida, it would take "15 years" to develop an open world for the game, though he did not specify why it would take so long. Instead of open-world capabilities, Yoshida believes the "movie-like gaming experience" is more important.
Announced in September 2020, Final Fantasy XVI follows Clive, the game's protagonist, fighting in action-oriented combat sequences, different from previous Final Fantasy titles. Since its initial announcement, the upcoming game has suffered several delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. After almost two years of radio silence, Square Enix released a second Final Fantasy XVI trailer alongside the Resident Evil 4 remake announcement. The trailer offered viewers information about the "Dominants," a group of people who can summon creatures called Eikons.
Final Fantasy XVI's current release window is Summer 2023 for the PlayStation 5.
Source: IGN