When the PlayStation 5 Showcase featured a trailer for Final Fantasy 16 in September 2020, it came as a shock to many. There had been no prior indication of the title, and it premiered at the very beginning of the showcase. Due to complications from COVID, the game's director, Naoki Yoshida, stated in 2021 that Final Fantasy 16's development had been delayed by half a year. Yoshida stated the game's storyline was almost complete despite this and the recording of English voice lines was in its final stages. The team had focused on the English dub from the start, he said, and that's an exciting development for the Japanese-developed title.