FF16 Producer Naoki Yoshida Says A Big Reveal Is Coming In 2022

The Final Fantasy fans who were expecting to hear news about Final Fantasy 16 in 2021 will be disappointed to hear that the next update has been pushed back to 2022, as production of the game has been delayed by six months. FF16 skipped the Tokyo Game Show and The Game Awards 2021, which were the last major gaming events that feature showings from multiple publishers.

FF16 is a big enough name that Square Enix could justify dedicating an entire event to promoting it, but the company usually gives its announcements to other outlets, such as the Sony State of Play events, or the annual E3 conference. While big gaming events such as The Game Awards and E3 give fans the chance to prepare, announcing their air dates weeks in advance, shows from parties like Sony and Nintendo tend to only be revealed days before the showcase. The fact that FF16 is a PS5 exclusive means that a Sony State of Play announcement would be an ideal fit for its next showing, seeing as it was first revealed during the PS5’s showcase event.

FF16 producer Naoki Yoshida had previously promised that more news about the game would be released in 2021, and the fact that 2022 is now only a week away has led most fans to believe that this wasn’t happening. Yoshida has announced in a post on the official Final Fantasy XVI Twitter page that issues with the game’s development have prevented the team from revealing more information in 2021, citing working from home due to the global pandemic as a major factor in the game’s development. Apologizing to the fans, Yoshida confirms the next FF16 announcement will now happen in spring 2022,

The switch to working from home has led to a number of issues with the production of FF16, something that has been seen across the board in game development. According to Yoshida, working from home has hampered communications between departments, leading to the delay. Yoshida previously said that he didn’t want to reveal more details on FF16 until it was close to release, which could mean that FF16 is planned to launch in 2022, though it may not be released until later in the year. FF16 still lacks a release window, so it’s all up in the air at the moment. As it stands, Square Enix has only revealed brief snippets of FF16, as well as some character bios and lore information on the game’s official website.

It’s worth mentioning that 2022 marks the 35th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series. The release of Stranger of Paradise will be part of the celebrations for the franchise, as it’s a gritty remake of the original Final Fantasy. It’s likely that Square Enix will host a 35th-anniversary livestream, as it did for the Dragon Quest series in 2021. It’s possible that Square Enix will unveil more info about FF16, as well as info about the sequel to FF7 Remake and the leaked remake of Final Fantasy Tactics, as part of one big anniversary event.

Final Fantasy XVI is currently in development for PS5.

Source: Final Fantasy XVI/Twitter

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Scott Baird
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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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