Final Fantasy left a big imprint in the 2023 Game Awards, giving Final Fantasy fans a lot to look forward to over the coming months. While things like a new trailer and such are expected—especially given how close we are to the launch of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on February 29, 2024—Square Enix still delivered some big surprises worth talking about.
Here’s all the juicy Final Fantasy news coming out of this year’s Game Awards.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth theme song and trailer premieres live
Probably the biggest piece of Final Fantasy news pie coming out of the Peacock Theater was the premiere of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth theme song along with a new trailer. The theme song “No Promises to Keep”, composed by Nomuo Uematsu with vocals by Loren Allred, was revealed in an epic live performance featuring The Game Awards orchestra.
The theme song announcement trailer that can be viewed on YouTube is made up of fresh gameplay footage and gives us more Zack and Cait Sith action compared to any prior Rebirth trailer so far. There are also glimpses of new locations, new summons, and key secondary characters like Marlene’s biological father. And speaking of Marlene, in the most chilling part of the new trailer, Marlene seems to reference the big, gut-wrenching moment we’re all chomping at the bit to know more about in a conversation with Zack.
Apex Legends + Final Fantasy VII Rebirth collaboration
The winner of the most unexpected Final Fantasy news is the announcement of an Apex Legends and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth collaboration event coming to Apex Legends on January 9, 2024.
For those unfamiliar, Apex Legends is a free-to-play, team-based, first-person battle royale that features several unique playable characters known as legends. Revealed in a short teaser, legends Crypto, Wraith, and Horizon are studying a mysterious fallen sword that Final Fantasy fans will instantly identify as the Buster Sword.
While the 40-second video doesn’t provide a lot of details about the event, at the very least we can discern it’ll feature Final Fantasy VII Rebirth-themed skins for some of the legends which are pictured below.
New Final Fantasy XVI DLC is available now and a second coming in 2024
Final Fantasy XVI is getting two story DLC packs in the form of “Echoes of the Fallen” and “Rising Tide.” “Echoes of the Fallen” is available right now and includes new weapons, accessories, and story chapters that take place just before the final battle in the game’s storyline. “The Rising Tide” splashes in the spring of 2024 and while we don’t know much about it yet, based on the trailer and its water-centric title, we can discern that the Eikon, Leviathan, will play a big role.
You can pick up both DLCs with the Final Fantasy XVI Expansion Pass for $25. And to make it even more enticing, purchasing “Echoes of the Fallen” or the Expansion Pass will also come with an in-game Buster Sword.
Final Fantasy wins some awards
Final Fantasy took home two Game Awards in 2023 with Final Fantasy XVI earning Best Score & Music and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth taking Most Anticipated Game.
Between four Final Fantasy games, the series was up for a total of eight awards this year. While we would’ve loved to see Square Enix’s flagship series take home more hardware, it was a stacked year in gaming with Balder’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom competing in many of the same categories. Earning nominations in a crowd as impressive as that is certainly a win all on its own.
Ben Starr shines and becomes a meme
The talented English voice actor for Clive in Final Fantasy XVI may not have won Best Performance, but he still managed to momentarily steal the spotlight—literally. A screenshot of Starr glowing from excessive spotlight exposure in the audience was captured shortly after the live Final Fantasy VII Rebirth theme song reveal and has been circulating on social media.
Starr has fully embraced his memedom as he called out the hilarious Game Awards moment on X (formally Twitter). His post has since garnered more than 31,000 likes and the replies are filled with fans sharing their meme creations.