When Final Fantasy XV was delayed earlier this month, there were little to no specifics as to why Square Enix chose to delay the game’s release. In an interview with Famitsu magazine, director Hajime Tabata explained the reasons for the delay.
“For starters,” Tabata said, “the optimization isn’t [yet] sufficient. There are also various bugs as well as places in which the frame rate drops.” Most bugs are just minor and not game-breaking, but he adds, “There are still of number of bugs like characters floating unnaturally in the air or appearing all strange [and glitchy].”
Such bugs are common in big games like Final Fantasy XV, and having an extra month or so can go a long way toward cleaning up and optimizing the game. Of course, most of the time, the bugs are handled with a huge day-one patch on launch. Tabata, however, told Famitsu that the delay is primarily to avoid having to release a day-one patch.
According to Tabata, over twenty percent of Japanese gamers are not connected constantly to the internet. Without assurance that everyone will be able to get a huge day-one patch, he would rather take the time to iron out the bugs before release.
That’s a noble goal and a great reason to delay a game. But I’m betting there will be some kind of day-one patch anyway.
Final Fantasy XV will be released on November 29, 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
