One of the biggest games of 2016 just got delayed
One of the biggest video games of 2016 just got pushed back by several months.
The latest entry in the long-running, enormously popular "Final Fantasy" role-playing game series was supposed to launch this September.
But the game's developer, Japanese company Square Enix, just announced a new release date: November 29. Sorry, "Final Fantasy" fans!
Games get delayed all the time, of course. The delay is especially notable with "Final Fantasy XV" because it's been in development (in one form or another) for nearly a decade.
The game's director Hajime Tabata posted a personal address to YouTube about the delay, wherein he apologized to fans and explained the new release date as a means of making the game in the best way possible.
"We have put our whole lives into developing this game, with the intent of bringing the highest quality of game experience to every single player who buys it," Tabata says in the video. "And I personally started developing 'Final Fantasy XV' from a desire to let everyone play a 'Final Fantasy' game that was so outstanding and amazing, that it would send other games running in panic."
In case it wasn't already clear, Tabata doesn't believe that the version of the game that exists now will deliver on his goal of sending "other game games running in panic." But he and his team are going to make sure that the game that arrives on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this November lives up to the high expectations he's set for it.
Fans are seemingly on board for the delay. "Take the time you need to make it the game you want. We've waited ten years, what's another two months?" writes one of the most recent commenters on the YouTube video. Indeed!
Here's the full video from Tabata (turn on subtitles for English translation):