Final Fantasy XV has a release date, demo, movie, anime series, AND mobile game

It's no big secret that the Final Fantasy series remains the big crown jewel in Square Enix's arsenal. Sure brands like Kingdom Hearts, Hitman, and Tomb Raider might have its fans, but the franchises dwarf in comparison to the big FF. I mean, you don't get to 15 numbered entries and countless spin-offs if you're not very popular. Final Fantasy is one of the biggest series in all of gaming and, for its next big entry, Final Fantasy XV, Square is not hesitating from showing that at all.

Like to the point of ridiculousness, to be honest. Last night Square held a gigantic Final Fantasy XV Uncovered event in Los Angeles, and revealed pretty much everything there is to know about the next installment in the action RPG series. The biggest news is probably the confirmation of the game's release date, September 30 -- so pretty much half a year from now. Considering how long the game has been in development (it started out as Final Fantasy Versus XIII ten years ago, if you recall), that wait seems like pretty much nothing.

A new trailer greeted the release date reveal, and also features a rendition of "Stand by Me" by Florence + the Machine. Because why wouldn't it? Here it is below:

And it's not like we won't have plenty of Final Fantasy XV related material to play around with in the meantime. Square is really going crazy with the promotional tie ins for this one, announcing a smorgasbord of new FFXV related products during the Uncovered event. That's good for fans of the franchise AND good for us, since it let's us use the phrase "smorgasbord" in an appropriate setting. It's a win-win really.

The most immediate of the related content is a playable demo for the game, titled the Platinum Demo, which both provides a sample of the presentation and gameplay of the sequel, but also telling its own standalone story that will tie into the main event...somehow. For now you can just head to either your Playstation 4 or Xbox One (no luck yet for you, PC players) to try the free demo out for yourself.

But if you're not in the mood to actually PLAY a game (who wants to do that?), Square Enix is still offering a couple other promotional ties ins for the Final Fantasy XV experience, kicking things off with an anime series entitled Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood. The first episode is available to watch now for free on Youtube, with four more episodes hitting the internet before the launch of the game. Here's the first episode below though, if you're curious:

But wait, there's MORE! In addition to a game, a demo, and a TV show, Square is going to try its hands at another CGI feature length film, in the vein of its cult classic Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within. Entitled Final Fantasy XV: Kingslaive, the film will be produced by Sony Pictures, and will tell the story of the various kingdoms in the Final Fantasy XV world of Lucis. It will probably have some barring on setting up the game itself, I think. Really, I have no idea anymore -- getting buried in extended universe stuff here. But hey, it will feature some pretty talented voice actors (Aaron Paul, Sean Bean, and Lena Headey, to name a few), so maybe it will be good. The film has no release date yet, but will be released online (no theaters for this one) sometime before the launch of the game. Here's a trailer for that too:

Finally there was an announcement about a spin-off mobile game based on a pinball minigame FEATURED in the actual video game (remember, there is an actual video game at the center of all this synergy.) That would warrant more of a response if it wasn't surrounded by a smorgasboard (twice in one article!) of other things, so just know that it's title is the hilarious Justice Monster Five, and it will be available for free soon on the Android store.

There's even more to digest about the launch of this game (including pre-order information, special editions, and the like), but whew am I tired. Just head on over to the Playstation Store if you want to know more about all that. It has a list of 15 substantial things square announced ALL ABOUT THIS GAME during the event, so you know the company is putting a lot of work into making this launch huge. Will it pay off for them? At this point, they better hope so.