Final Fantasy XVI Development Delayed by Almost a Half Year Due to COVID-19 Pandemic - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 March 2022 / 3,486 Views
Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida in a new message posted via Twitter announced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic development on the game has been delayed by almost a half year.
"When last we spoke, I promised I would have more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime later in 2021," said Yoshida. "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 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."
Final Fantasy XVI is in development for the PlayStation 5.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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If the big reveal is planned for Spring, I'd imagine the release will be anywhere between holiday 2022 and spring 2023.
Sounds like its in a good place though
looks at my backlog ....im cool with this delay
So, from Autumn 2027 to Spring 2028.
Not so bad when you look at things realistically. Can hardly wait!
well that sucks covid surely does suck!
As opposed to the usual delays of this series.
2023 game for sure, perhaps even 2024....
No problems here, 2022 is already packed with some amazing games, likely one of the best years ever in gaming:
Elden Ring, GoW: Ragnarok, GT:Sport, Horizon: FW, Pokémon: Arceus,, starfield, Zelda: BoTW II... damn, such great year!
I think Hellblade 2 is coming in 2022 as well. Will be great for all consoles...and break the wallets of those who have all three. ?
I think 2024 would a very unlikely outcome. Even back in 2020 when this game was revealed we got reports from credible sources about how much further along development it was compared to the usual FF. The list of things they're focusing on seem mostly about graphics and overall polish.. When FFVIIR got its big media blow out, it came out 9months later, same with FFXV. Although both were delayed by a few months from their initial release date and I'd expect a similar thing here. 9months-1year after full reveal seems the standard, so its just a case of whether that reveal actually comes in spring or is delayed again.
I can empathise, having homeoffice myself. But this sucks. I'm glad for the silence though: the more they show, the harder the wait will get. -And the more they will spoil the game. I just hoped for it to arrive a little sooner.
this game was delayed before it was even started.
It's a Square game, would have gotten delayed pandemic or no.
It's incredible how incompetent Japanese studios are when it comes to making things work with home office. I wonder if covid restrictions were as brutal as they were in Europe, this game wouldn't be released before 2024
Yeah there probably will be a second delay as well I expect it somewhere in 2024.
im sure this works for SquareEnix as more PS5s will be sold in the delay time.
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