Yoshida: Final Fantasy XVI development has been delayed by almost half a year due to COVID
Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida has recently released an official statement detailing development updates on the upcoming installment of the critically-acclaimed series. Yoshida opens up by revealing that development on the game has been delayed “by almost half a year,” and the culprit is something we’re all familiar with: COVID-19.
A message from Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida. #FF16 #FFXVI pic.twitter.com/qtfJUUp6LA
— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) December 27, 2021
Yoshida shares that while they “amassed a sizeable team composed of talented creators from around the world,” the global pandemic has forced them to allow staff to work 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,” Yoshida explains.
On the bright side, the Final Fantasy team has worked out ways to mitigate this issue and will be able to better focus on increasing graphic resource quality, refining combat mechanics, fleshing out individual battles, putting the finishing touches on cutscenes, and conducting overall graphical optimization when the new year rolls along.
So what next for Final Fantasy XVI? Yoshida says the team plans on conducting their next big reveal in the spring of 2022. As of this writing, Final Fantasy XVI has only been confirmed to have a PlayStation 5 release.
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