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Producer: Final Fantasy XVI Game's Development 'Delayed by Almost a Half Year' Due to COVID-19

Final Fantasy XVI role-playing game producer Naoki Yoshida posted a statement on the game's official Twitter account in English on Monday, stating that "complications stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have delayed the game's development by almost half a year." While the staff had originally stated Square Enix would reveal more information about the game in 2021, that is no longer the case. Instead, Square Enix will reveal more information about the game in spring 2022.

Yoshida explained the issues around the development in more detail, stating:

As the latest addition to the FINAL FANTSY 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.

The single-player action RPG will launch for PS5 as a PlayStation console exclusive. While an initial livestreamed trailer had listed a PC release, the same trailer's online version and its website did not list a PC version.

Square Enix's Creative Business Unit III division is developing the game. Naoki Yoshida (Final Fantasy XIV) is producing Final Fantasy XVI, and Hiroshi Takai (Final Fantasy XIV) is directing the game.

Source: Final Fantasy XVI game's Twitter account