Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster delayed, with bonus for those who wait

Earlier this year, Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters on a rather tight release timeline. The company initially planned to have them all out within 2021, but with just a couple of weeks left in the year and no sign of Final Fantasy VI – the final Pixel Remaster of the bunch – we were starting to wonder if the game would make it out in time. We can stop wondering because Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy VI has been delayed.

Thankfully, the delay isn't a huge one. Overnight, Square Enix took to Twitter to announce that the Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster has been delayed until February 2022. The company said the delay would give it time to not only finish development but also apply polish and make it "the best experience possible for players."

While it's never particularly great to hear about delays, this one has a silver lining. Square Enix says that it will be adding additional pre-order items that will be available to those who have already purchased the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Bundle or pre-order Final Fantasy VI as a standalone product.

Even though Square Enix's tweet doesn't tell us what those bonus items are, a Steam news post for Final Fantasy VI delivers the goods. In addition to the two wallpapers and three timelapse remix tracks already included in the pre-order bonuses for Final Fantasy VI, Square Enix will also give players a timelapse remix of Locke's Theme, an instrumental version of Aria di Mezzo Carattere, and two additional wallpapers each for Final Fantasy I-VI.

Square Enix is probably right to take some extra time on Final Fantasy VI, given the game's popularity among the Final Fantasy player base. Final Fantasy VI is widely regarded to be one of the best Final Fantasy titles ever made, perhaps rivaled only by Final Fantasy VII. It's safe to say that fans who grew up in the SNES era have fond memories of Final Fantasy VI, so getting the Pixel Remaster right is probably a big deal for Square Enix (or at least it should be).

Up to this point, Square Enix had been releasing Pixel Remasters at a fairly decent clip. They were first revealed at E3 2021, and in the six months since the show, Square Enix has managed to get the Pixel Remasters for the first five Final Fantasy games out the door.

While certain classic Final Fantasy games were previously available on PC in one form or another, this is the first time that all six classic Final Fantasy titles will be available on the platform. We were impressed enough with the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters that they got a mention in our Best Games of 2021 round-up, so here's hoping that Square Enix sticks the landing with Final Fantasy VI. There's no concrete release date for Final Fantasy VI yet, but we'll let you know when that changes.