Modders Bring Ariana Grande Back to Final Fantasy Ahead of Resonance Launch
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Modders have successfully added Ariana Grande and other iconic crossover characters into the upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance demo, bypassing official creative decisions from Square Enix.
Square Enix is launching Final Fantasy Resonance next month as the iconic franchise's first HD-2D entry, serving as a remake of the 2015 mobile title Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. While the upcoming release is generating plenty of buzz across PC, Nintendo platforms, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, one piece of gaming history was initially left behind. Pop star Ariana Grande famously appeared as a pixelated character in Brave Exvius back in 2017, complete with her signature Dangerous Woman tour outfit. When producer Keisuke Nakashima confirmed to Kotaku that the pop icon would not return for Resonance because her character did not fit the new game's specific atmospheric worldview, players expected her cameo to remain a piece of lost gaming trivia.
PC modders clearly had other plans. As reported by Eurogamer, the community has already stepped in through the FFR Vision Studio project, crafting custom tools that drop Grande straight into the newly released Resonance demo. The modding scene is not stopping at pop stars either, with players quickly adding heavy hitters like Sora from Kingdom Hearts and 2B from Nier Automata into the party lineup.
Because progress made in the pre-launch demo carries over to the full game when it drops on October 22, the timing could not be better for custom cosmetic fans. It is a great reminder of how quickly player communities shape their own experiences, ensuring that beloved crossover history survives even when official development priorities move in a different direction.
Tags: Final Fantasy, Modding, RPG, PC Gaming, Square Enix
Original article: IGN South Africa