Is Square Enix scared of releasing FF16, possible flopping ?

[PAOerfulone]

Uhhhh, what?

Shipped + digital numbers for XV were at 8.9 million by late December 2019:
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/441894/final-fantasy-xv-ships-89-million-units-worldwide/,

So by this point, it's likely well over 9 million, which puts it behind just VII, VIII, and, possibly X as the 3rd or 4th best selling mainline game in the series, but comfortably ahead of XIII, which was last reported ~7.8 million copies between PS3/360/PC.

And it's actually the #1 best selling game in the series in the US.
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443082/top-10-best-selling-final-fantasy-titles-in-the-us/

And the general consensus from what I've heard has been that XV was a step in the right direction for the series from XIII. And it would seem that its sales reflect that. A step up from XIII and in both sales AND acclaim.

So, I really don't see how Square Enix would be intimidated or scared, from a commercial OR critical standpoint, to release XVI. As long as they build off what worked with XV while fixing what didn't work, then the game will be received just fine, and based on sales for not just XV but the VII Remake as well, it's certainly in no danger of flopping.