Final Fantasy XVI is in the “final stage” of development, confirms producer Naoki Yoshida

After being announced back in 2020, the development of Final Fantasy XVI is almost finished, according to executive producer Naoki Yoshida. Yoshida also serves as director of the critically-acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. In an interview with Uniqlo magazine promoting Final Fantasy’s 35th-anniversary collaboration, Yoshida shared that FFXVI, the next upcoming title in the iconic Japanese Role Playing Game series, has almost wrapped up production.

Translated by Reddit user MKillerby, “Right now, the development of FF16 is in its final stage,” said Yoshida. “As a single-player game, we are aiming to integrate story and gameplay even further. Different to a game where many people play online at the same time, the extent to which the game has an individual focus changes how immersed you are in the story. I think it’s become a story with quite a lot of depth.”

Final Fantasy XVI was (unexpectedly) announced during the PlayStation Showcase in 2020, giving us a beefy trailer introducing characters, setting, and more. It was later learned the JRPG was already in development for four years. Since then, Yoshida revealed that development was delayed by six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2020 we have seen little regarding the project and no release window set by Square Enix. However, it has already been confirmed that we will get a major update regarding Final Fantasy XVI sometime this Spring.