Final Fantasy 16 fans got their last look at the game in October, with the game's various reveals being few and far between, but it seems they will be getting its release date announcement sometime soon. The upcoming entry tells a dark and personal story as Final Fantasy 16 protagonist Clive seeks vengeance for some unknown wrongdoing, while the world around him wars for control of the crystals, the dominant, and to somehow stave off the Blight. The anticipation is high, with the upcoming JRPG easily being one of the most anticipated games of 2023.

It was previously revealed that Final Fantasy 16 was expected to launch in summer 2023, but that may no longer be the case. Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai and producer Yoshi-P recently sat down to talk with Famitsu about the game's ongoing development.

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When asked about the development status of Final Fantasy 16, Takai said that it was "about 95%" complete. The development team is currently playing through the game day by day, tweaking rough parts, and brushing up various performance flaws and the like. The rest of the time is spent fixing bugs, with Yoshi-P adding that "almost all programmers are fiddling with code to fix bugs." He also stated that the sheer size of Final Fantasy 16 means that debugging takes a lot of time.

final fantasy 16 ps showcase

Perhaps the juiciest part revolves around Final Fantasy 16's release date. When asked about it, Yoshi-P stated that "we plan to release the information again later this year, so I think we can say it at that time." In other words, the release date may appear in the next Final Fantasy 16 trailer. That could drop randomly sometime this month or next, or perhaps it'll take place at some event like The Game Awards. It's uncertain either way, but there does seem to be a plan. Yoshi-P also adds that he doesn't "think it's going to be over the summer," with the implication seemingly being that development is going so smoothly that it may release sooner than summer.

Obviously, game development is a fluid process and sometimes unexpected things crop up. The confidence is definitely nice to see, but at the same time, fans should not pressure the dev to release it any sooner than it's ready. This isn't some explicit statement or promise that it'll release before summer 2023 after all. But either way, it's nice to know that Final Fantasy 16's release date is creeping up on fans.

Final Fantasy 16 is expected to release in 2023 on PS5.

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Source: Famitsu (Translation via ResetEra)