Square Enix hasn't announced when it plans on launching Final Fantasy 16, but according to a well-connected industry insider, there's one big reason to doubt it's coming in 2022.
Over on Resetera, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier replied to a comment saying he isn't "getting [his] hopes up" on Final Fantasy 16 releasing this year. Naturally, fans of the series were disappointed to hear that, and so Schreier elaborated a bit on his reasoning. To note, it doesn't sound like the reporter was speaking within the context of any inside knowledge of recent developments, but rather making a reasonable assessment based on a general knowledge of the project and development team.
All that said, Schreier reckons Final Fantasy 16 isn't due out this year because the same team of developers are working on Final Fantasy 14, which just released its massive Endwalker expansion in December. "The thing to consider about Final Fantasy 16 is that it's being run by the same people who run Final Fantasy 14, which took priority last year and was delayed multiple times," Schreier said.
Again, Square Enix has yet to comment on Final Fantasy 16's launch timing, so we've had no reason to expect a 2022 release, but comments Schreier made during a podcast in September 2020 implied we'd be playing it relatively soon. At the time, Schreier claimed that the project had already been in development for at least four years "in some capacity" and that it would be "coming sooner than people think."
Of course, the ongoing pandemic has continued to disrupt development through 2021 and into this year, so it's possible that its original release schedule was pushed back. Either way, it's best to temper your expectations until we hear from Square Enix officially.
