10 Rare Video Games That Survived Development Hell
6. Final Fantasy 15 - 10 Years
With Final Fantasy's sprawling story, enormous ensemble, complex mechanics, and vast world) to explore, gamers expect the production of each instalment to be long.
But ten years? Final Fantasy 15 spent so much time in limbo, it felt like it was never coming out. Like most games caught in development hell, this sequel started off completely different. In fact, it wasn't a mainline entry to begin with. Back in 2006, it was a spin-off of FF13, called Final Fantasy Versus 13.
Within a year, there were internal discussions about revising the IP into a core title. Sadly, this decision wasn't finalised until 2012, meaning the team spent six years on vaporware. To save time, the director, Hajime Tabata, could've repurposed Versus XIII's material for Final Fantasy 15. But with the PS4 and Xbox One set for release in 2013, the whole project had to start from scratch, to ensure FF15 was ready for those systems.
When things started taking shape, Tabata suffered another setback. As the game's scope increased, Tabata decided to split elements of the story into separate projects, including DLC, a CGI feature film, and an animated series. Rejigging all these factors delayed Final Fantasy 15's launch until 2016.