Final Fantasy 16 finally arrived on Xbox, but the experience isn’t quite what fans hoped for. Performance tests reveal the Xbox Series X version runs at a notably lower resolution than its PS5 counterpart, raising eyebrows about Square Enix’s port quality.
At the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, Xbox players got their first real taste of Final Fantasy on their platform. Though the game is available now, some technical issues quickly caught the attention of the community.
Digital Foundry recently launched the game on Xbox Series X|S and PS5. Oliver Mackenzie’s comparison highlighted some apparent drawbacks of Xbox. For starters, in graphics mode, the Series X runs the game at a lower resolution (1224p) than the PS5’s 1440p, which is unusual since Xbox hardware often matches or surpasses PS5 in this case.
The visual differences extend beyond resolution. The Xbox version’s shadows, foliage, and general texture quality seem less refined. The performance mode shows a starker contrast: PS5 keeps the game at 1080p, whereas Xbox Series X drops to 720p. That’s quite a gap, especially considering the Series X’s power.
On the bright side, Xbox manages a consistent 60 FPS during performance mode, while PS5’s frame rate varies. However, that smoothness comes at the cost of image clarity on Xbox. Yikes, right?
