Final Fantasy 16's marketing has been nothing if not comprehensive. Collaborations and developer Q&As abound, but this latest stunt might just take the cake: the Tower of London's Royal Armoury, an exhibition of historic British arms and armor, will temporarily add a replica of the main character's sword to its collection.
I struggle to think of any other bit of viral marketing to get quite this high-profile – save for, perhaps, Bethesda's attempt to get Bill Clinton to voice the main antagonist in Fallout 3 – but to be fair, if there's any game out there that justifies this, it's the latest entry in one of the medium's most legendary franchises.
Having played Final Fantasy 16's demo, I can't say I'm entirely captivated by the shift it's taken to more "grounded" Western fantasy a la Game of Thrones or The Witcher instead of the more modern fantasy of the last few games – but it's precisely those new cultural connections that allow it to justify taking a place in a thoroughly British institution like this. Maybe more swords from video games and less stolen cultural artifacts, England?
