Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker has been delayed by two weeks and will now be released on December 7, 2021. To help with the wait, the team also released the expansion’s launch trailer.
The news was announced by FF14’s producer and director Naoki Yoshida, who wrote a letter to the fans explaining the decision and apologizing for the delay.
“There are several reasons for the postponement, but as I’m the one overseeing all aspects of the title as the head of the project, the responsibility falls solely on me,” Yoshida wrote. “Allow me to convey my sincerest apologies to our players, our Warriors of Light around the world who have been looking so forward to the release of Endwalker. I am truly sorry.”
As we previously mentioned, Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker will now launch on December 7, while the expansion’s early access period will begin on December 3. There will also be two scheduled patches – Patch 6.01 and 6.05 – that will be released on December 21, 2021, and January 4, 2022, respectively.
Yoshida continued to say that the “biggest factor behind the release date change was my own selfishness as the game’s director.” It all stemmed, according to him, from trying to balance the roles of producer and director.
“However, as we neared the end of development and I played through everything—from quests to battle content and the like—I just couldn’t contain my desire to further improve Endwalker’s quality, specifically because this expansion pack marks the first major culmination of events in FFXIV so far,” Yoshida said. “Even as we look beyond Endwalker, the FFXIV story will continue for a long time and we hope to deliver many more enjoyable experiences in the game. However, it was precisely because Endwalker concludes the first major saga that I felt our team needed to push ourselves to the “limits” that I envisioned.
“As a result, we remained firmly resolved to adjust down to the smallest nuances and ensure our writing covers even the finest points of the vast and intricate story that has spanned these past 11 years since the original FFXIV to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy their adventure in Endwalker.
“Unfortunately, the consequence of this was that we ended up in a situation where we cut into the time required for final quality assurance checks due to this time spent on additional improvements.”
As the launch day grew near, Yoshida realized that “there was a bigger risk of us reaching the release date without ensuring “stability” as one form of quality.” It was this reason, and more, that led to the decision of a delay.
This will mark the first time Yoshida has ever delayed an annouced release date, although he did “once shift a release from Spring to early Summer.” He also understands that many people made arrangements to take off work for the first day of Endwalker, and he humbly asks that everyone “forgive [him] for the decision [he’s] made.”
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker will not only conclude the tale of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and bring to a close the story that began in A Realm Reborn, it will also feature two new jobs – one healer and one melee DPS – and will bring players to the moon.
For more on FF14, which recently surpassed 24 million players, check out why Endwalker’s Stardew Valley-like mode sounds relaxing as heck and the changes the team has made to help ease server congestion.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.