More Final Fantasy XVI information expected in Spring 2022; development message from producer Naoki Yoshida

Square Enix has stated that the next information reveal for Final Fantasy XVI is expected to land in Spring 2022.

In a statement posted to both the official website and official Twitter account, producer Naoki Yoshida apologizes for not being able to give any details about the highly-anticipated RPG in the year 2021. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is highlighted as a primary cause for a half-year development delay, causing delays and cancellations with worldwide outsourcing partners.

It's been more than a year since we've received significant information regarding the development of Final Fantasy XVI. In Summer 2021, we learned that the game's English voiceover and facial capture was produced first before the Japanese recording, but that's about it since learning about the protagonists and kingdoms in October 2020.

The message in full can be found below, via Square Enix. Final Fantasy XVI is set to release for PlayStation 5 and does not yet have a release date.

Greetings everyone.

When last we 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 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 Producer
Naoki Yoshida