Final Fantasy 15 will miss its previously announced Sept. 30 release in order to allow the team to "further polish and conduct quality testing," Square Enix announced today.
The game will now launch Nov. 29, confirming delay rumors that began circling earlier this week.
"From the moment we joined this project, our vision was to create a level of freedom and realism previously unseen in the series," said Tabata in a prepared statement. "Regrettably, we need a little bit more time to deliver on this vision and are confident that this new release date will help us achieve this. As the director and lead of this project, I wish to personally apologize for the additional wait. As a team, we want Final Fantasy 15 to achieve a level of perfection that our fans deserve. We kindly ask for your understanding."
Game director Hajime Tabata further explained the delay in the video above, noting that the team wanted to avoid a "day-one" patch. He added that a video based on the completed "master version" of the game will be released on Aug. 16
"Our objective with Final Fantasy 15 was to deliver a Final Fantasy of the highest possible quality to every single person who buys the game," he said. "We have completed the master version but when it comes to that highest possible quality, we felt that we had not quite reached that version yet. In order to make this master version an even better product, we have been creating a downloadable add-on known as a day-one patch."
"Regrettably, we need a little bit more time to deliver on this vision."
Tabata acknowledged, however, that the "substantial" day-one patch requires an internet connection, and would therefore not be available to all players.
"I came to think that it might be a mistake just to deliver the master version we have finished to everyone, so I realized if we were to go ahead and release it then myself and my team would wind up regretting it," he said.
"The disc that is going on sale on the 29th of November will contain everything that was scheduled to be on the day-one patch, as well as some extra things on top of that."
Tabata added that for players with an online connection, he's considering "even further patches and DLC in the future."
According to Square Enix, the delay will not affect the Aug. 30 digital release date of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy 15, the CG film based on the game's characters. Release dates for the disc version, however, as well as the anime Brotherhood: Final Fantasy 15, may still change; Square Enix is expected to update fans at a later date.
Final Fantasy 15 will launch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.