Final Fantasy XIV's North American Fan Festival is no longer taking place this year.
On the Final Fantasy XIV forums, the game's producer, Naoki Yoshida announced that the North American Fan Festival that was to take place later this year is no longer happening. The cancellation was due to the fact that the team behind the event could not guarantee the health and safety of everyone at the festival. The event was meant to take place this November in San Diego.
"Although we have been moving forward with various arrangements to adapt to the unfolding pandemic, we ultimately feel that we cannot guarantee the health and safety of the attendees, performers, or company staff members who would be present at the event," Yoshida stated. "Thus it is with great regret that we arrive at this conclusion, and I offer my sincere apologies to all who were looking forward to enjoying the festivities.
"Despite the cancellation of the San Diego event in November, however, we have not given up on holding our next Fan Festival in North America. Plans are already in motion as we examine possible dates, cities, and venues for a festival in the first half of 2021."
Yoshida then goes on to say that preparations for the Fan Festivals in Japan and Europe are still under way. The Japan event is scheduled to happen in December, while the European festival is set for February. Yoshida does state that as with the North America situation, the team is monitoring the state of the current pandemic, and that they will inform fans of any changes that may occur.
In the forum post, Yoshida also stated that Final Fantasy XIV's patch 5.3 has been delayed. The patch was supposed to release on June 16th, but will be delayed for at least a month. The delay comes from issues of having to working at home, which has affected the team's development production. Yoshida stated that a new release date for the patch will be announced in the near future.
Final Fantasy XIV is available now for PC and PlayStation 4.
