Final Fantasy XV's director Hajime Tabata is gearing up for a renewed marketing push as the fifteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series begins a mad dash towards its 2016 release. Speaking to Famitsu, as translated by Nova Crystallis, Tabata had the following to say:

“This year is the year we’ll release Final Fantasy XV,” Tabata told Famitsu. “Currently, we’ve decided on all of its specifications and the beta version is under production so we can shift into the debug phase. We’ll show the real XV during the release date announcement this March.”

Tabata has another Active Time Report, his primary platform for delivering development updates on Final Fantasy XV, scheduled for the end of January. Viewers will be treated to new battle footage and information on the bad guys, the Niflheim Empire. After that, his next major event will be the release announcement event in March. Tabata and Square Enix came under heavy fire last Fall when, after much anticipation and buildup, Square Enix failed to announce the long-awaited title's release at any of the end of year trade shows. The resulting backlash prompted the development team to issue the broadest release window possible—2016.

Rumors abound that Final Fantasy XV may see a release somewhere in June, allowing the game to effectively dominate the summer with what will surely be monster sales. What still remains to be seen, however, is whether or not Final Fantasy XV can deliver on all the promises it's made during its decade in development.