To celebrate the commercial success of Final Fantasy, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 16 is being adapted into a musical, and set to be performed by an all-female theatre troupe.
Final Fantasy 16, in its musical version performed by Takarazuka Revue, will be divided into two runs when it is released in 2024. The first will be shown between May and June and will be hosted at the Takarazuka Grand Theater, while the second run will be performed between July and August at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater Performance. Tickets will go on sale in April of next year.
With this announcement came the news that Final Fantasy has sold 180 million copies worldwide, according to Square Enix’s statistics. That puts it in the same bracket as Grand Theft Auto 5, for a frame of reference. “With its beautiful graphics, unique worldview, and rich storyline, the series has captivated people not only in Japan but also around the world and has expanded beyond the boundaries of video games to include TV dramas, movies, kabuki, and various other media mixes,” said Square Enix in the press release.
In a four-star review of Final Fantasy 16, NME praised the ambitious story accompanied by memorable performances, however, stated that segments of the game felt overstretched in comparison. “It’s a dark pivot for Square Enix — especially coming from Final Fantasy 15‘s nice-boy-road-trip — but it’s well-executed, as the mature tone provides space to tackle stories of persecution, classism and trauma in meaningful ways,” said Andy Brown.
Those eager for the PC version of Final Fantasy 16 are set to be waiting a little while longer, as the team stated it hasn’t “had the time to optimise the PC version.” Producer Naoki Yoshida shared that there is a lot to “look forward to” in this version, though, when it arrives.
In other gaming news, Bokeh Game Studio‘s Slitterhead showed off its combat encounters in a developer diary, as well as what might be a playable stray dog in the upcoming horror game.