Despite initial promises that Final Fantasy XIII will be arriving in North America this year, Square Enix, the publisher of the game, has announced a long delay that sets back the launch date for U.S. sometime in April 2010.

 

The highly anticipated game will launch this year, but only in Japan and exclusively on the PS3, as confirmed by Square Enix President Yoichi Wada. In North America and Europe, the latest Final Fantasy will be released on both PS3 and Xbox 360.

 

The reasons for such a big delay still remain unclear, but it would be no surprise if the April release date would not be met. While they wait, Final Fantasy fans will probably want to take their time in reviewing the other versions of the game, since it’s going to be a long wait.

 

Square Enix first presented the Final Fantasy XIII trailer during the E3 2006, and has since gained interest from gamers all over the world. So far, Square Enix has managed to sell over 85 million units of its Final Fantasy releases.

 

According to Wada, the economic downturn has not affected them yet, but on a long term, the strategy is clear: more overseas launches, especially considering that the population in Japan is shrinking, and aging rapidly at the same time.

 

The Final Fantasy franchise began more than two decades ago, and has since produced almost 30 game titles. The game publisher promised to deliver, in addition to the Final Fantasy XIII installment, the PS3 exclusive Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but that will probably have to wait even longer for release.