Perhaps one of the most exciting upcoming games for PlayStation 5 is Final Fantasy XVI. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen a whole lot from the game yet, and it<\/b>
\nPerhaps one of the most exciting upcoming games for PlayStation 5 is Final Fantasy XVI. Unfortunately, we haven\u2019t seen a whole lot from the game yet, and it looks like it\u2019ll be a while until we see more because today Square Enix announced a delay for the game. It\u2019s a fairly significant one, too, as Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida says that the COVID-19 pandemic has \u201cdelayed the game\u2019s development by almost a half year.\u201d Yoshida revealed this in a lengthy statement published to Twitter early this morning. While most developers simply blame challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic and leave it at that, Yoshida went into specifics about how the pandemic has impacted the development of Final Fantasy XVI. According to his statement, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Square Enix to decentralize the Final Fantasy XVI team by shifting to work-from-home. \u201cThis has unfortunately hampered communication from the Tokyo office, which, in turn, has led to delays in \u2013 or in extreme cases, cancellations of \u2013 asset deliveries from our outsource partners,\u201d Yoshida explained. The good news, according to Yoshida, is that Square Enix has hammered out these issues throughout 2021, so having the team work remote shouldn\u2019t cause as many problems in 2022. There\u2019s still a lot to be done, as Yoshida says that the team will be focusing on \u201cincreasing graphic resource quality, refining combat mechanics, fleshing out individual battles, putting the finishing touches on cutscenes, and conducting overall graphical optimization,\u201d but the Final Fantasy XVI developers should be able to better handle those tasks in the new year. As for when Final Fantasy XVI might launch, that\u2019s still up in the air. We were supposed to get another look at the game before the end of this year, but that\u2019s no longer happening. Instead, Yoshida says that Final Fantasy XVI \u2018s \u201cnext big reveal\u201d will happen in spring 2022. While that hopefully means we\u2019ll see the game release at some point next year, it\u2019s impossible to tell without more specifics from Square Enix. Indeed, a lot is up in the air at the moment, and COVID surges brought about by the Omicron variant could disrupt plans further. Hopefully, the Final Fantasy XVI is somewhat insulated from such surges, but COVID-19 looms over any potential release timeline regardless. We\u2019ll just have to wait and see what Yoshida and Square Enix announce next. It\u2019s unlikely that we\u2019ll hear more about Final Fantasy XVI before that big spring reveal, but hopefully, that gives us new release details, an extended look at the game, or both. For now, Final Fantasy XVI has only been confirmed for PlayStation 5, but we\u2019ll let you know if that changes in the future.<\/p>\n