A new blog post appeared on the Final Fantasy XVI Twitter from game producer Naoki Yoshida that will not be pleasing to fans eagerly awaiting the next installment of the long-running series. FFXVI has been delayed for six months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure the quality product that the community expects from Square Enix. The team is hoping that a big information dump in Spring 2021 will help ease the pain of the delay.
Mr. Yoshida wrote:
When last we spoke, I promised I would have more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime later in 2021, 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.
As the latest addition to the Final Fantasy series being developed for the PlayStation 5, Final Fantasy XVI has amassed a sizeable team composed of talented creators from around the world. However, 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. Our primary goal now is to be as hands-on with the game as possible in order to see it fully polished.
So that leaves us with the question, when can we expect the next round of information? Well, I am happy to announce the current plan is to conduct our next big reveal in the spring of 2022 as we seek to build excitement leading up to the game’s eventual release.
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 focus our combined efforts on development.
In the meantime, check out the Final Fantasy XVI official site to learn more.
