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The game has been pushed back by roughly half a year.
With Final Fantasy XIV literally being so popular that Square Enix had to stop selling it for a while, the franchise is currently a hot-ticket property. Folks are hungry for more Final Fantasy, and if they can’t play XIV, then naturally minds begin to turn to the next mainline entry in the series, Final Fantasy XVI. Originally revealed in September of last year, Square Enix has kept pretty hush about this next entry, giving only a brief (though absolutely awesome-looking) teaser to chew on. Today, we finally got some news on the game’s development, though unfortunately, it’s not good news.
“When last we spoke, I promised I would have more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime later in 2021,” Square Enix producer Naoki Yoshida wrote on the game’s official Twitter. “However, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to keep that promise as complications stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have delayed the game’s development by almost a half year.”
Expect more news regarding Final Fantasy XVI in the spring of 2022 https://t.co/40R3pr2y8Y pic.twitter.com/7rDANB7mdc
— Game Informer (@gameinformer) December 27, 2021
“In an effort to offset the effects of COVID-19, we’ve had to decentralize that workforce by permitting staff to tackle their assignments from home. This has unfortunately hampered communication from the Tokyo office, which, in turn, has led to delays in—or in extreme cases, cancellations of—asset deliveries from our outsource partners. That said, we have spent much of 2021 addressing this issue, and hope to see its impact to a minimum by the new year, allowing us to better focus on the tasks at hand: increasing graphic resource quality, refining combat mechanics, fleshing out individual battles, putting the finishing touches on cutscenes, and conducting overall graphical optimization.”
“I deeply apologize to all those who have been looking forward to learning more about Final Fantasy XVI, and thank you for your continued patience while we focused our combined efforts on development.”
