Don't expect Final Fantasy 16 at the Tokyo Game Show
Crystal clear.
It doesn't sound like Square Enix will show Final Fantasy 16 at the Tokyo Game Show.
In conversation with Nier chief Yoko Taro during a special Final Fantasy 14 livestream, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida indicated the hotly-anticipated game will skip this year's TGS, which kicks off at the end of September.
In comments translated by Twitter user @aitaikimochi and Siliconera, Yoshida said the team wants to show Final Fantasy 16 shortly before the game launches, rather than drip feed fans snippets of information over a long period of time.
Final Fantasy 16 was announced in September last year as a PlayStation 5 exclusive also coming to PC.
The debut trailer, below, shows a return to a fantasy setting for the series after the flying cars and suits of Final Fantasy 15. The main protagonist is called Clive.
It's been quiet on the Final Fantasy 16 front ever since it was revealed. Yoshida has said the game's "next big information reveal" was scheduled for 2021. Final Fantasy 16 skipped Square Enix's E3 show and hasn't shown up yet in any subsequent Sony State of Play broadcast, so there was some hope it would star at TGS. If the "next big information reveal" is still on for 2021 (with the way coronavirus is impacting video game development, it may well have slipped), perhaps a new trailer at The Game Awards in December is in the works.
It's all a bit vague, but Yoshida did touch on the game's development during the livestream. The team - which has the snazzy name Creative Business Unit 3 - has finalised the main story scenario, and recording of the English localisation is almost complete.
Final Fantasy 16 does not yet have a release window. Final Fantasy 15 came out in November 2016. Perhaps November 2022 for Final Fantasy 16 is doable?