‘Final Fantasy XV’ Officially Delayed to November 29

Henry Gilbert
Games
Games

[UPDATE] Over the weekend we reported on the rumor of a Final Fantasy XV delay. Now, in a crummy bit of news that could only arrive on a Monday morning, the Final Fantasy XV delay has been confirmed. Here’s FFXV‘s director Hajime Tabata explaining why the game has been delayed two months to November 29…

The short version is that while the Final Fantasy XV team had submitted a “master” version of the game for manufacture, they still planned on updating and changing things with a day one patch. But then Tabata felt that this would limit their improvements with the game to only players with access to the internet, but it would also restrict them from adding more to that patch by the end of September. So instead, Tabata and his developers will be making the patched version the one on disc, meaning they need two extra months to complete and manufacture a new master version.

Obviously this is disappointing news for anyone waiting to play Final Fantasy XV sooner rather than later, but after more than a decade, what’s another two months of patience? Anyway, below is our original reporting on the rumored delay…

Original News Post

Has Final Fantasy XV been delayed? Rumors began circulating this weekend that Final Fantasy XV will now be out two months later than the announced September release date.  If these new rumors are true, this is certainly tough news for long-suffering Final Fantasy fans. And while publisher Square Enix has yet to confirm the delay, it’s looking more and more likely by the hour.

The first news about the Final Fantasy XV delay comes from Gamnesia, which cited a GameStop source claiming that FFXV was no longer going to hit its September 29 release date, instead moving to November 29. That would put Final Fantasy XV at the tail end of the highly profitable holiday release schedule, and two months behind its original release date. Following that bit of news, Kotaku also cited an independent source at GameStop also claiming the game was delayed, along with a non-retailer source who also said that the delay was official.

The Smoking Gun

Gamnesia then followed up its original piece by finding quite the smoking gun. Here’s a very straightforward instructional image on how to change the release date on a GameStop in-store display for Final Fantasy XV.

final fantasy xv 15 delay

The image came with instructions to have this display changed Monday morning, so official news of the delay will likely arrive then. Now that the news is out early, I’d expect Square Enix to confirm this very soon, perhaps as early as their Japanese team can make the call.

Effects of the FFXV Delay

While the move may be annoying to fans, hopefully the delay gives the development team extra time to improve the quality of the game. Those extra two months of development time could go to a few extra tweaks or polish the game needs to be great. And really, what’s another two months with how long this wait has been? Final Fantasy XV has been in development for more than a decade. It began as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The name changed to FFXV a few years ago when the game got a new lease on life and was confirmed for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Final Fantasy XV 15 Delay 2

Fans have been waiting for this game so long that eight more weeks is just a drop in the ocean. And with Tokyo Game Show about a month away, perhaps there will at least be some exciting, last-minute updates heading our way soon.

Henry Gilbert
Henry Gilbert is Senior Games Editor at Fandom. He's worked in the gaming press since 2008, writing for sites as diverse as GamesRadar, IGN, and Paste Magazine. He's also been known to record a podcast or two with Laser Time. Follow him on Twitter @henereyg.