Danica Davidson
December 27, 2021 
Fans have been eagerly waiting for the information on Final Fantasy XVI that was supposed to come in 2021. It still hasn’t arrived, but, like many things, it’s been delayed because of COVID and is not the fault of the people working on it. Producer Naoki Yoshida put out a lengthy statement in English on Final Fantasy XVI’s Twitter page, explaining the situation. He began by saying that he regrets to inform us that no new info is coming out this year because COVID cost about half a year’s delay. He continued:
“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.”
We do have something of a new timeline. Yoshida explains that the next big reveal is scheduled for spring 2022. He referred to the game’s “eventual release,” but did not give a concrete date. He apologized for the delay and thanked fans for their patience “while we focus our combined efforts on development.”
Source: Twitter
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
