Final Fantasy 16ย producer Naoki Yoshida has announced that development on the game has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which means gamers will have to wait a little longer for a release date. Yoshida, who is also the producer and director ofย Final Fantasy 14, announced that the team had run into issues with working from home. Check out the full message below.
https://twitter.com/finalfantasyxvi/status/1475335618905669635?s=21
Final Fantasy 16ย was officially unveiled in September 2020 and it came with the promise of more info in 2021. With just a few days left in 2021, Yoshida released the above statement explaining the issues with development. A plethora of games have been hit with delays due to the pandemic. The beginning of 2022 is stacked with game releases that were originally intended for the end of 2021 but suffered from pandemic-related production delays. It looks likeย Final Fantasy 16ย is no different, despite the fact that the game was announced well into the pandemic.
Fans of the franchise will be happy to hear that Yoshida believes these developmental hiccups have been ironed out. The use of the phrase โin order to see it fully polishedโ is an interesting one. That suggests that development for the game is much further along than this announcement otherwise suggests. There hasnโt been a release date announced for Final Fantasy 16ย yet, just an update that it’s been delayed. However, when the game was originally announced, Yoshida stated that it was well into production. Many key areas of development have been finalized and the original trailer showed off in-game footage. Thatโs rare for aย Final Fantasy game as they have typically been announced years ahead of time and with CGI trailers.
Hopefully, with the production issues being corrected, the game isnโt too far behind schedule. Yoshida said the team plans to โconduct our next big reveal in spring of 2022 as we seek to build up excitement leading up to the gameโs eventual release.โ Perhaps that means a late 2022 or early 2023 release date for Final Fantasy 16,ย but we’ll need to wait to know more.
