Forspoken delayed - Final Fantasy 16 to release instead

Square Enix's upcoming open-world action RPG, Forspoken, might be getting delayed again. What's more, it seems Square's another highly-anticipated action RPG title, Final Fantasy 16, is all set to replace it this holiday season.

The aforementioned news comes from XboxEra's Shpeshal Ed, who, in the latest XboxEra podcast episode, discussed the possibilities of Forspoken getting delayed again.

Forspoken and Final Fantasy 16 are Square Enix's biggest 2022 titles, not to mention they are both PS5 timed exclusives, so it would be interesting to see how the company handles their releases.

Forspoken could be delayed for Final Fantasy 16

According to Ed's sources, Square is willing to delay Forspoken only if Final Fantasy 16 would take its place this holiday season. If you didn't know, Forspoken, developed by the team behind Final Fantasy 15, was originally planned to release on 25th May 2022, but Square Enix decided to delay the game to this holiday season.

On the other hand, Final Fantasy 16 has been kept under wrap ever since its initial reveal during PlayStation's September 2020 showcase.

The game's producer, Naoki Yoshida, who you may recall from his work on the popular MMO Final Fantasy 14, stated earlier this year that we would get an update on the game soon.

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With Final Fantasy's 35th anniversary approaching, a new Final Fantasy 16 trailer alongside a release date or at least a release window update won't be too surprising.

Why Forspoken's delay for Final Fantasy 16 makes sense

As absurd as it seems, delaying Forspoken for Final Fantasy 16 makes a lot of sense. For starters, Forspoken is a new IP, and releasing it during the busy holiday season could impact its overall sale, something that Square Enix wouldn't probably want, especially given the underwhelming sales of some of its recent titles.

On the other hand, Final Fantasy is a well-established franchise with millions of fans all over the world. With Final Fantasy 16 being the first new mainline entry in the franchise in 7 years, it's no surprise that expectations are sky-high and so is the anticipation level. As such, releasing Final Fantasy 16 instead of a new IP like Forspoken during the busy holiday season seems like a safer option, if anything.

Fans should, however, take the aforementioned info with a huge grain of salt since Square Enix has yet to confirm any of the details.

At the time of this writing, Forspoken is planned to release for PC and PS5 on 11th October 2022 whereas Final Fantasy 16's release date remains a big mystery.

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Featured image courtesy of Square Enix.