Final Fantasy 16: Producer prioritizes English dubbing

Final Fantasy 16: Producer prioritizes English dubbing

Final Fantasy 16

In an interview, FF16 producer Naoki Yoshida revealed that the focus will be placed on the English language when setting the role play. The recordings are currently taking place with motion capturing. Synchronization also takes place at the same time as the scenes are displayed. This means that the makers no longer have to make adjustments to the lip sync later.

For this reason, the recordings in English are currently the most advanced. The speakers for the Japanese version - who were usually the focus of the series - will be in the recording studio shortly. Yoshida chose British English specifically for Final Fantasy 16. It has not yet been confirmed whether there will also be a German voice output. Earlier this month, the producer sparked speculation among fans after speaking about the progress of English dubbing on a livestream. Followers were certain that the Japanese recordings were almost complete. The interview with Naoki Yoshida has now ended this theory.

In September 2020, Final Fantasy 16 was officially presented. The role-playing game will be available exclusively for PS5. There is no release. Naoki Yoshida recently indicated that the team would show new material "in a perfect world" at the Tokyo Game Show. However, it is apparently unclear whether they will make this date. The producer therefore doesn't want to show Final Fantasy 16 again until the release is within reach.

via DualShockers





Final Fantasy 16's Voice Capture Was Seemingly Completed in British English First

Final Fantasy XVI's facial and voice capture has seemingly been completed in English first, and with a focus on characters with British accents.


Producer Naoki Yoshida appeared on streaming show Washagana TV this weekend and – per a Gematsu translation – said that, 'This time, English recording is going first. And we have been focusing on British English.' That focus on British English is likely down the game's high fantasy set-up, rather than Final Fantasy 15 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake's more sci-fi inflected aesthetics.


It's a rarity for Japanese games to record an English language version of the game first – but in this case Yoshida says it comes down to creating full facial capture for the game's characters. 'We can’t possibly hand-animate every cut of a scene,' he explained. 'So this time we are doing full facial motion captures and then adding voices to that [...] So this is one of the reasons why the English version is ahead of others.' He also explained that the facial capture extends beyond cutscenes.


Yoshida says the Japanese version will be handled 'soon', but it's not clear if the game will feature entirely separate facial capture for English and Japanese versions. After the release of Ghost of Tsushima, many noted that there was no Japanese lip-sync despite a full voice track, with demand leading to the feature being added in the upcoming director's cut. We've contacted Square Enix for confirmation on that.


Final Fantasy XVI Characters and World


We'd previously heard that voiceover work was nearly complete, and that the game will likely skip Tokyo Game Show, as Yoshida would like to 'show it when it's ready', rather than show off pieces of the final product.


Final Fantasy 16 was announced for PS5 and PC last year (but Square Enix confusingly retracted the PC announcement). Since then we've learned about its heroes, world, and story, and the game's six realms in the world of Valisthea.


Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.