Final Fantasy 16 is likely to receive a mature rating ahead of its launch in summer of 2023, which is somewhat of a novelty for games in Square Enix's storied role-playing series. To date, there are only a handful of titles that go beyond the T- or E-rating, and Final Fantasy XVI looks set to be among them. In an interview with GameSpot, producer Naoki Yoshida said the team pursued this rating as it let them tell the story they wanted to more freely.

According to Yoshida, although he believes somewhat restrictive ratings are important to ensure the proper people are consuming the appropriate content, trying to tell a more mature story while adhering to the restrictions of ratings below the mature level can hamper the creative process and the experience for players.

"When trying to tell a story with difficult adult themes, these ratings can end up becoming somewhat of a hindrance. And you find yourself changing things that you wanted to do in the game based on that rating. You wanted to show something, but because you have this certain rating that you need to go to, you need to move the camera away. And that ends up making the entire experience feel a little bit cheaper."