Final Fantasy XVI development delayed by almost half a year

[Shawn Knight]

The big picture: Don’t look now but yet another highly anticipated game has been impacted by the ongoing pandemic, resulting in a delay of roughly six months. In fact, it's the second Final Fantasy game that has been affected by the pandemic in as many weeks.

Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida recalled on Twitter that in his last communication, he promised more information on Final Fantasy XVI in late 2021. Specifics weren’t mentioned but reading between the lines, it seemed as though Square Enix had a big announcement planned for the end of the year.

A message from Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida. #FF16 #FFXVI pic.twitter.com/qtfJUUp6LA

— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) December 27, 2021

Whatever the case, it’s no longer happening as Yoshida said complications stemming from the ongoing pandemic have delayed the game’s development by almost half a year.

Elaborating further, Yoshida said that like many others, they had to move to a work-from-home model to keep the wheels rolling. This slowed communication from the Tokyo office and in some extreme situations, led to outright cancellations of asset deliveries from third parties.

The project is now well behind schedule, but still on track. Square Enix now aims for its next big reveal to take place in the spring of 2022. Yoshida apologized for the delay, and thanked fans for their continued patience.

Final Fantasy XVI was revealed in 2020 and will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive. It’s not to be confused with Final Fantasy XIV, sales of which were suspended earlier this month due to extreme server congestion. As of this writing, there is no update on that matter.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92755-final-fantasy-xvi-development-delayed-almost-half-year.html

 

[gigantor21]

Not surprising with the radio silence since the last reveal, but still disappointing.

 

[fazy shah]

No thanks. I won't waste my money. They didn't fulfill what they told us about the previous FFXV as promised. Even they made us pay for DLC which should be free.

 

[kira setsu]

No problem, there's countless games to play until its release.

its yoshi p, if anyone knows about releasing a good game, it's this man.

 

[Puiu]

Not surprising with the radio silence since the last reveal, but still disappointing.

I know from experience just how bad delays can be because of working from home. People like to glorify working from home, but when it comes to team projects nothing beats having the team in the office.

 

[Luay]

If it’s taking more time than previously thought then that’s excusable. If it’s a change of direction in development due to unsatisfactory results, then it’s going to be as disastrous as FFXV.

I’ll wait for the Conan Review