Final Fantasy 16 has been in development for at least four years, says insider

Fans concerned about Final Fantasy 16 taking forever to come out may not need to worry, as it could release in only a couple of years.

The announcement of Final Fantasy 16 was easily one the biggest surprises at the last PlayStation 5 showcase, with a trailer that showed off its action gameplay and gritty, fantasy setting, with not a flying car or mobile phone in sight.

Naturally, jokes sprang up that it won’t release for another 20 years, but it sounds like development is further along than you’d expect, according to noted insider and Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier.

On an episode of the Triple Click podcast (around the 9:45 mark), while discussing the game, Schreier says that, according to his own sources, it’s been in development for at least four years.

This means it must’ve begun sometime in 2016, the same year that Final Fantasy 15 released. Fans already suspect that, if this is the case, then Final Fantasy 16 could feasibly release sometime in 2022, with some hopeful that it will arrive late 2021.

This is good news for fans who may still be feeling burned from Final Fantasy 15, which infamously had a rocky development cycle.

It was originally announced in 2006 as Final Fantasy Versus 13, a companion title to Final Fantasy 13, but it ended up being rebranded into 15, with director Tetsuya Nomura no longer in charge of the project.

15 was a financial success for Square Enix, but development troubles still persisted post-launch, with its numerous DLC plans that could’ve improved the game’s story being cancelled when director Hajime Tabata left the company.

Schreier’s report suggests that Square Enix is aiming to avoid similar mistakes this time. The trailer certainly gives the impression that there is a set vision for 16’s gameplay and story, with the game hopefully unlikely to suffer the same problems as its predecessor.

Final Fantasy 16 is currently in development for PlayStation 5.

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