Final Fantasy XVI has been postponed for a half year because to COVID-19

Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XVI, the next chapter in the long-running RPG series, last year, promising additional details by the end of 2021. According to Kotaku, both the announcement and the game have now been pushed back.

Producer Naoki Yoshida commented on Twitter, “When we last 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 from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have delayed the game’s development by almost half a year.”

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Square Enix permitted partners to work from home, however this evidently had an impact on the timeline. “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,” Yoshida said.

As they mentioned last year, Final Fantasy XVI was originally released as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and it takes place in a mediaeval setting rather than the more sci-fi-themed settings of later editions. The company stated that for the project, it had to create a “all-new development environment” and study the ins and outs of the PS5.

“We have spent much of 2021 addressing this [pandemic] 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 graphic optimization,” Yoshida said. The current idea is to hold a reveal in the spring of 2022 and then release the game later that year.