FFXVI's basic development and scenario is complete.

[Wolf Kanno]

According to a new recruitment ad, XVI's scenario and basic development is already complete. The team is currently looking for artist, environmental production, cutscene production assistants, and VFX artists. There was no indication of any release but the ad apparently mentions that the staff has been building the game remotely.

This seems like good news because it means the game is likely in the early stages of actual full development. To put this in perspective, despite being announced in 2006, Versus XIII hadn't even entered full development as late as 2011. It very likely didn't enter it until after Tabata's team took over and the game was rebranded. So that means XVI may very likely dodge the "released in 2035" scenario.

[Lord Golbez]

I imagine that "scenario" means they've plotted out the game, but what exactly does "basic development" cover?

[JJ Strife]

Isn't that the point at which there's usually another 3 years or so though?

[Wolf Kanno]

My guess is that basic development covers the overall idea of the game. Basically what they want the battle mechanics to look like, open world vs. more linear design, what types of quests and bosses they want. They may likely even have some prototypes made up which is likely what we saw in the trailer.

Now they're going to build the game to meet those expectations. It may mean we still have a few years ahead of us before we see the game, but at least we know they're out of the planning stages and won't be having another "Versus XIII" situation where the game stayed in pre-production for five years.

[maybee]

It's going to be a 2021/2022 release. I can feel it.

[JJ Strife]

My guess is that basic development covers the overall idea of the game.

"Lets do Dragon Age with Chocobos, but Devil May Cry gameplay. Agreed?"

"Agreed"

1 day's planning!

[Wolf Kanno]

My guess is that basic development covers the overall idea of the game.

"Lets do Dragon Age with Chocobos, but Devil May Cry gameplay. Agreed?"

"Agreed"

1 day's planning!

Lol. It would be a little more involving than that. Likely with lots of storyboards and a few mock ups of what the director and producer want to see. Pre-planning can sometimes take the longest time especially since they would likely be doing test runs on the PS5 hardware just to figure out if the tech will support their ideas.