A year after showing up on console, Final Fantasy 16's PC launch time is finally nearly here. This one is stepping away from the sci-fi vibes of modern magic and cars and back to classic lads in plate mail. It's “an epic dark fantasy,” starring *checks notes* a guy named Clive. That's classic Final Fantasy for you: dragons, drama, and Clive.

It got a somewhat mixed reception during its original launch last year, with opinions ranging from “a turning point for mainline Final Fantasy” to “ponderous pseudo-medieval soap opera.” Personally I think the latter describes the majority of the series and that's kind of what people love about it, but to each their own.

If you've held out this long to play it, there's not long left to wait. The Final Fantasy 16 PC release date is September 17 when it will launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

When is the Final Fantasy 16 PC launch time? 

The global PC launch time for Final Fantasy 16 is 7 am Pacific, September 17. You can check how that equates to your local time zone or check this list of time zones around the world:

• 7 am PDT (Los Angeles)
• 10 am EDT (New York)
• 11 am BRT (São Paulo)
• 3 pm BST (London)
• 4 pm CEST (Berlin)
• 12 am September 18, AEST (Sydney)
• 2 am September 18, NZST (Auckland)

As for what we can expect from the PC version, you can actually jump in now to try it out and see how it performs on your rig. There's a Final Fantasy 16 demo available on Steam and Epic. The demo includes the opening section of the game and your progress will carry over to the full version if you decide to buy it. 

This launch comes at a time when Square Enix has said it wants to “aggressively pursue” a strategy to “win over PC users.” Ideally that sort of strategy would involve a simultaneous PC and console launch rather than a yearlong delay but hey: the wait's almost over.