It seems Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida is well aware of the sarcastic comments that followed the debut trailer during the PS5 reveal showcase earlier this month. The hype of a new Final Fantasy game eventually gave way to social media commentary that pointed out "subpar graphics" in the trailer and stated that the game wouldn't be released until 2035.
Yoshida addresses those negative takes during the Tokyo Game Show Live 2020 livestream a few days ago, stating "As much as possible, I wanted to show real-time in-game footage. However, since the footage hadn’t been optimized and tuned, creating the trailer was somewhat exhausting at this point in the game’s development."
“But, if it were just a rendered trailer, there would be comments I’ve seen in America and elsewhere like, ‘See you in 2035!” Yoshida once again stressed how he wanted to show the actual game in motion, instead of something just to sell the game."
Hopefully, Yoshida doesn't lump all North American Final Fantasy fans in with the group who tried to claim the reveal trailer had poor graphics. As he explained above, the decision was made to show actual game footage rather than create an uber-polished, cinematic trailer that doesn't actually represent what the game looks like. Furthermore, it seems the graphics for the game aren't even finished, so despite the game already looking gorgeous, it's only going to improve as time passes.
We still don't have an official release date for FF XVI but a website for the game is set to launch next month that should provide some additional information. The game will be a timed-exclusive for the PS5 before coming to PC. There are also unconfirmed rumors that it will eventually be released on the Xbox Series X.