Final Fantasy 16’s getting a day one patch after all, even though they said it wouldn’t

Square Enix has confirmed Final Fantasy 16 will be getting a, albeit pretty minor, day one patch after all.

Sitting down to play a game on release day only to be met with an update before you can get stuck is pretty much the norm nowadays. So much so that when Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai claimed Square Enix’s upcoming blockbuster wouldn’t need one, it likely took a few of you by surprise. Turns out Final Fantasy 16 will be the same as most other major releases after all as Square has now backtracked and revealed it will need a patch on launch day.

Revealed during a pre-launch live stream on Saturday, June 18, producer Naoki Yoshida confirmed Final Fantasy 16 will be getting a day one update which will be roughly 300 MB in size. A small enough patch that most players are probably willing to forgive Square for going back on its word. Even better, you won’t technically need the update to get started. The game will be completely playable without it.

You may well run into the minor issues it fixes if you don’t download it, though. The problems addressed include fixes for minor text errors, and performance optimization in certain parts of the game. The patch will also fix problems where the game closes unexpectedly and prevents progression, although Square clarifies both of those things will only occur under very specific circumstances.

Considering Final Fantasy 16 will weigh in at more than 90 GB, yet still doesn’t even come close to being the biggest game of the year (looking at you, Jedi: Survivor), 300 MB to kick things off doesn’t seem like that big a deal. Even though it will still take up a hefty chunk of your PS5’s SSD later this week, Square appears to have worked some magic to keep the next game in the Final Fantasy series under 100 GB.

Related: How to preload Final Fantasy 16 on PS5: file size and unlock date

There were plans for Final Fantasy 16 to be the first PS5 game that needed to be spread across two discs. That didn’t end up being the case, but it will be what happens to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Revealed at the end of Summer Game Fest on June 8, Rebirth will be split across two discs which presumably means it includes at least 200 GB of game.