Surely you've seen the news by now, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida published a new message explaining why we haven't heard much about the PS5 game in 2021 - However, the message's existence in itself also revealed a major development philosophy difference from other JRPGs.
The Final Fantasy XVI English and Japanese Twitter accounts published a message this late December. Explaining how promotional reveals of the game were delayed due to the pandemic.
The fact that the message exists in itself, and is so detailed, tells us a lot about Square Enix' approach to development and promotion with Final Fantasy 16.
- MORE - All the FF16 lore revealed so far
Final Fantasy 16 producer chooses transparency & reveals development troubles
If you're familiar with Japanese games and regularly follow Japanese-related news, you have noticed by now that Japanese companies usually never detail the reasons behind a delay.
Japanese games get delayed all the time, this is a normal thing. Especially with games from non-mainstream studios such as Compile Heart, Gust or Nippon Ichi Software. However, whenever a developer message announces a delay, the message will simply say "We are striving to further improve the game's quality". I lost count of how many developers messages I've translated that only said this. The real reasons behind the delays are rarely made public.
Meanwhile, the fact that Square Enix and Naoki Yoshida decided to tell us so much about what happened to Final Fantasy 16 is huge in itself. Even going as far as admitting that some assets were downright canceled due to the pandemic.
Personally speaking, this alone makes me more interested in Final Fantasy 16 than anything else we've heard about the game so far.
Final Fantasy 16 - 2021 news & development updates explained
Naoki Yoshida first shared some FF16 story hints in February 2021. Yoko Taro also had a lengthy discussion with him in July. YoshiP shared more comments on dubbing & motion capture in July. Lastly in October 2021 at Tokyo Game Show, YoshiP shared some first details on the FF16 Skill Tree system. The next major news for the game will be in Spring 2022 (March-June).