In an open letter to players today, Final Fantasy XIV’s producer & director, Naoki Yoshida, provided a development update amid the current COVID-19 pandemic. He explained that while his team at Square Enix has so far been able to keep to schedule with patch 5.2 and 5.25, patch 5.3 will not go ahead in mid-June as planed.
Instead, the team is considering whether the delay will be two or three weeks, or if it will be closer to a month. This is the result of logistical challenges brought about by work-from-home social distancing protocols. That and other challenges Yoshida listed within his message:
- Delayed delivery of graphical assets due to the lockdown of cities in East Asia, North America, and Europe.
- Delayed voice recording due to the lockdown of cities in Europe.
- Delays to development tasks performed by Tokyo staff due to work-from-home/shelter-in-place limitations.
- Production and QA teams operating well below normal capacity due to work-from-home/shelter-in-place limitations.
Yoshida apologized for the delay but pointed to the importance of looking after his team of developers first and foremost. He also extended a warm message of condolences to all affected by the crisis, as well as acknowledging the importance of trying our best to stay positive through entertainment such as videogames.
In other more positive news, you can read our news editor Giussepe Nelva gush over Final Fantasy XIV’s latest Save the Queen quest.
You can also read an interview Twinfinite conducted with Yoshida earlier this week.
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