Final Fantasy XV's mysterious launch window just got a little bit narrower.

OK, so we still don't know exactly when the role-playing game will be released, but we do know it'll be before 2017.

Square Enix



Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae demo Cherished Frogs locations guide

Barring any massive surprises - a 2015 release is way too soon... right? - that means it will launch at some point in 2016.

Game director Hajime Tabata confirmed the news to Eurogamer, after apologising for an underwhelming gamescom in which the team released a cinematic trailer and a bit of gameplay footage.

"We came to gamescom this year with our plan," he said. "Having people who know the series and people who don't, we wanted to introduce the information on a level playing field.

"We miscalculated the kind of expectations towards this event, especially for what people want to see at this show.

Square Enix



"There was a big gap between our perceptions of what people should be doing and what people expected. And we realised that very quickly after the reaction!

"We really wanted to say something else, so we've got something we'd like to say - you won't be waiting until 2017. We want to get that across. We want to reassure people that we are going to get it out."

It was always assumed the game would launch in 2016, although at last count it was only 60% of the way through development.

Final Fantasy XV is in development for Xbox One and PS4.

Watch a trailer for Final Fantasy XV below:

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