Originally slated for May, Luminous Productions’ Forspoken would be delayed to October 11th to allow for more polish. However, it could very well face another delay based on one odd condition – if Final Fantasy 16 is ready to release first.
This was revealed by XboxEra co-founder Nick Baker on The XboxEra Podcast. “There’s a possibility that Square may delay Forspoken again, but it’s kind of conditional and apparently this condition is whether they think they can get Final Fantasy 16 out this year.” Keep in mind that this isn’t hard confirmation or even an insider leak on a potential delay for Forspoken.
Instead, it seems that Square Enix is assessing the development progress of Final Fantasy 16 and if it’s ready in time (most likely by the Holiday release window), it may opt to release that while Forspoken is pushed back. It’s not the worst strategy since, as Zalker 87 pointed out, the former is a more established IP and a big-time exclusive for Sony’s PlayStation 5.
Forspoken is also a major exclusive but still a much newer IP, one that could use additional time for polish. Rather than releasing two big-budget exclusives in the same window, Square Enix may opt to space them out more if the conditions are right.
Whether this comes to pass or not, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has indicated that development is nearly complete and a new trailer is coming “soon.” Stay tuned for more details in the coming months regardless.
