According to sources over on Gematsu, Square Enix’s hotly anticipated Final Fantasy XV will be released on September 30 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The leaked date comes a few weeks ahead of Square Enix’s Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event in New York, which takes place on March 30 and will, among other things, play host to the official release date announcement.
Obviously Gematsu’s report should be treated as a rumor for the time being, although the site notes it has been “corroborated by three independent sources who would have knowledge of the matter,” so there’s hope that they could be onto something regarding the release date.
Final Fantasy XV has endured a tumultuous and lengthy development cycle, having originally been announced as the PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy Versus XIII back in 2006. However, Square Enix re-revealed the game back at E3 2013 as FFXV, and confirmed last year that the Versus XIII concept was scrapped when the project was roughly 25% complete.
Gamers have already had a chance to go hands-on with FFXV thanks to the demo packed with Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, known as Episode Duscae. An updated version of the demo was released last summer.
Final Fantasy XV takes on a more action-oriented direction to other instalments in the venerable JRPG series, and features an open-world to explore as opposed to the more linear design seen in Final Fantasy XIII. Elements of Versus XIII remain in the game, although much of the concept has been changed; new characters have been introduced, and the story has been overhauled.
Square Enix has also revealed it may release airship combat as post-release DLC, and also hopes that gamers will shed a few tears at the game’s ending.