Amidst various rumors and speculation that Square Enix’s forthcomingForspokenmay see another delay, it appears that the game could be on track to release this year after all. Europe’s PEGI rating board has stampedForspokenwith an “18” rating, indicating that the game may be in its closing stages of development.
First revealed in 2020,Forspokenwas initially slated to release in early 2022 before a delay pushed the title back to October 2022. Recently, a handful of uncorroborated rumors suggested that Square Enix would insteadreleaseFinal Fantasy 16this year and further delayForspokeninto next year as the former is reportedly finishing development. ShouldFinal Fantasy 16’s launch be closer than anticipated, many fans speculate that anotherForspokendelay would make sense as Square Enix may not want to cannibalize sales and draw attention away from either game this fall.
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However, Europe’s PEGI rating board grantedForspokenan “18” rating, the equivalent of the ESRB’s “Mature” rating in the United States. PEGI cites instances of mature topics such as suicide, alcohol consumption, and strong language as the leading reasons for the game’s “18” certification. Additionally, PEGI notes thatForspokenwill feature microtransactionsas an added point of consideration in its certification process. Today’s certification could suggest thatForspokenwill adhere to its planned release date of October 11, as rating boards generally rate a game when it’s in its final stages of development.
Forspoken’s official PEGI 18 certification could indicate that the board has revised all story and gameplay elements in a close to finished product. Fans should note that this is not entirely concrete evidence and still be wary ofForspokenbeing further delayedgiven the precarious state of current video game release dates. However, today’s PEGI certification ofForspokenis a good indicator that the game is on track for release this year when factoring in previous updates to the game.
For further hope ofForspokenreleasing this year, fans can look at the original delay announcement posted in March of this year. Luminous Productions states thatForspoken’s delay is so that developers can continue “polishing the game,” implying that the team is working on bug fixes instead of structural gameplay and story changes. Additionally, the ESRB rated the game with a “Mature” certification in February, signifying that the rating board perhaps also saw an iteration of the action RPG that is mostly finished. With today’s PEGI certification, hopeful fans could surmise thatForspoken’s delay announcement rings true to its intent for further polish and could very well be on the way later this year.
Forspokenlaunches on October 11 for PC and PS5.
