Final Fantasy XVI has taken a very significant delay: Square Enix explains the reasons

Final Fantasy XVI has taken a very significant delay: Square Enix explains the reasons

©Square Enix

Producer Naoki Yoshida had promised news of Final Fantasy XVI to fans before the end of 2021. Promise kept but, unfortunately, they are not good.

In an official message relayed on social networks, the producer blames the pandemic for the significant delay accumulated by his teams for the development of this new component exclusive to the PlayStation 5.


Some six months late to deplore

You have already read this explanation many times. But the thing is, the pandemic isn't over yet, and it's still forcing studios to rethink the way they work. And the development of video games does not adapt well to teleworking, a fortiori for projects as gargantuan as Final Fantasy XVI. The construction site would thus have taken “half a year of delay”.


In his message, Naoki Yoshida explains that Square Enix has been forced to ask its employees to work from home. This therefore poses communication problems and leads to obvious delays in the delivery of certain assets that will make up the final puzzle that is FF XVI.

However, specifies the producer, efforts have been made internally throughout 2021 to reduce these differences and be more efficient in development. We understand that the machine is now back on track. The Yoshida teams have moreover very precise specifications for the coming months: improve the graphic quality of the game, bring the final touches to the cutscenes, give shape to the duels and carry out various optimization tasks.

See you in spring 2022

This transparency is welcome from Square Enix, it saves fans the disappointment of a last minute postponement. Final Fantasy XVI does not have a definitive release date, but we understand that the title is unlikely to see the light of day in 2022.



However, the game's producer is setting a new course: "I am happy to announce that the plan is to make a big announcement in the spring of 2022, with the idea of ​​creating excitement in preparation for the game's release." We can therefore expect a trailer and, why not, a release date.


But if the last two years have taught us anything, it's that it's better to measure your expectations and not take publishers' announcements at face value. Caution is in order, and with the COVID-19 pandemic picking up again, the future is all the more uncertain.


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