Fans of the cult classic 3DS RPG have been waiting for a sequel for over a decade, but sadly, early access for Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time's Xbox port was delayed at the last minute.
Update: Early access on Xbox is now up and working, and Level-5 is looking into compensating players for the wait.
The genre-blending life sim comes out for everyone across PS5, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S on May 21 - though a more expensive edition promised early access entry starting today, May 18, for players on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox (folks on Switch were never promised early access, for some reason.)
On the same day as the game's supposed early kick off date, however, developer Level-5 confirmed that early access for Xbox players was delayed indefinitely because of an issue on Microsoft's end.
"Early Access for the Xbox Series X|S version of FANTASY LIFE i, originally scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM GMT on May 18, has unfortunately been delayed due to an ongoing technical issue on Xbox's side," the team tweeted, before confirming early access would go ahead as planned on PC and PlayStation "As of now, the issue remains unresolved and players are still unable to play on Xbox platforms."
"We truly want players to dive into FLi as soon as possible and it's incredibly frustrating for us that we cannot yet make that happen. We are continuing to work closely with the relevant teams to restore access as soon as possible, but are currently unable to provide a specific time for when Early Access will begin."
Several hours later, Level-5 confirmed that the issue had been resolved and apologized for "the inconvenience caused to everyone who has been waiting" in a social media post. "We are currently discussing possible compensation for the delay and will share further details once they are finalized."
Fantasy Life developer says it struggled with "compatible platforms and new hardware," but now the long-awaited 3DS game sequel is "shaping up to be an outstanding RPG"
