It’s been a while since our last update on Final Fantasy XVI but the game’s producer Naoki Yoshida has published an update on its development status. However, it’s a bit of bad news.

In the update, Yoshida announced that problems and issues arising from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have delayed production by almost a half year (that’s almost six months), and he also confirmed that the next major update on Final Fantasy XVI will only arrive in spring 2022, which is somewhen between March to June 2022.

If that’s the case, then we should likely expect the next Final Fantasy XVI update to drop probably during E3 2022, which will take place sometime in June 2022.

Check out the full message below (via Twitter):

A message from Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida. #FF16 #FFXVI pic.twitter.com/qtfJUUp6LA

— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) December 27, 2021

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

Final Fantasy XVI is slated to release for the PS5.