As Final Fantasy 16 players face crashes, mysterious black squares, and a flood of eternal darkness after the recent PS5 system update, Square Enix and Sony vow to find a cure

Final Fantasy 16 is going through it right now, as the hit RPG has suddenly become plagued with graphical glitches and crashes - and it doesn't even seem to result from an update to the game itself.

Instead, these issues have all surfaced following last week's PS5 system software update . Of course, this update shouldn't have had anything to do with Final Fantasy 16 - it rolled out some new features for the console itself. However, since then, confused FF16 players have been sharing clips and screenshots of Clive being enveloped by darkness, while others have reported frequent crashes.

Over on Reddit, one user describes the visual glitches as starting off with "multicolor graphical errors" before "a growing black texture spreads across the screen blacking everything out. Comes and goes intermittently, between both cutscenes and gameplay." You can see how prominent this is in the screenshots below – it's totally impossible to ignore.

PS5 system update on September 12 causing weird graphical bug from r/FFXVI

Meanwhile, another user shares a video clip of Clive trying desperately to outrun the darkness chasing him. While they jokingly point blame at the RPG's performance mode, as many in the thread's comments point out, this is exactly the kind of problem that's inexplicably arisen since the PS5 system update.

Do not play FF16 on performance mode what is this 😭 from r/FFXVI

Some would probably argue that these players are the lucky ones, though, because at least their games are still running. "I can't play at all. My FF16 crashes often. Fast travels make the game crash. Black pixel boxes every now and then. Brand new PS5. And the same for my brother. I was a huge fan," another player reports .

"Yeah the crashes made the game unplayable for me. Two crashes per hour for me," a separate fan adds.

It's far from ideal, but at least Square Enix and Sony are aware of the issues. "Following the recent release of the PlayStation 5 system update, there have been reports of the game crashing and graphical issues," a tweet posted to the official Final Fantasy 16 Twitter account today reads. "We are currently working with SIE to investigate, and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please await our further updates."

There's no doubt that it's concerning to see this happen to one of last year's best RPGs , especially considering its PC port is releasing today, too. Here's hoping that the devs manage to get to the bottom of things quickly.

While you're here, be sure to check out our ranking of the best Final Fantasy games of all time.