Square Enix Wants a New Final Fantasy Every Year

[Marshall Honorof]

Square Enix Wants a New Final Fantasy Every Year

If Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed can make big money with yearly installments, so can Final Fantasy, says Square Enix.

Back in the day, a new Final Fantasy game was a rare thing. Fans eagerly anticipated each new installment, and politely waited until after the game had come out to proclaim their undying hatred for it on the internet. However, between flagship title [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114149-Final-Fantasy-XIII-2s-Collectors-Edition-Revealed], the market has been somewhat glutted with Final Fantasies lately. In spite of this, series fans may want to prepare for an even more aggressive release schedule: Square Enix wants to take inspiration from bestselling Western game series and release a new title every year.

"I think we took a little too long getting [Final Fantasy XIII] out," says Yoshinori Kitase, a developer and producer of the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2. "When you think of Western triple A titles like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Assassin's Creed, they seem to work with a lot shorter turnaround - they make a new game in 1-2 years. That is something we need to follow up, because that seems to be the best way to keep our fans interested and attracted to the franchise." Kitase explains that this paradigm led Square Enix to develop and release Final Fantasy XIII-2 in the space of eighteen months.

While it's true that yearly installments in ongoing series can help keep fans hooked, they have varying degrees of success. While Call of Duty broke sales records for steep decline [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114249-Modern-Warfare-3-Breaks-Every-Sales-Record-Known-to-Man] in sales for Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Furthermore, if gaming forums are any indication, Final Fantasy XIII did not sit well with fans primarily due to a poorly paced story and ultra-linear level design, not its development time.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 looks fine [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113810-New-York-Comic-Con-2011-Preview-Final-Fantasy-XIII-2], but will probably not win over many new fans for the series. Releasing a new Final Fantasy title every year could prove lucrative in the short-term, but what do Final Fantasy fans really want: consistency or innovation? Within a few years, the sales figures will tell.

Source: Gamereactor [http://www.gamereactor.eu/articles/9388/Kitase+on+Final+Fantasy+XIII-2/?sid=e982654edf6466703fc82e9470afdcde]

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[Druyn]

If they can't up the quality of the games and bring something new to the table, all they are going to do is drive their most profitable brand into the ground. But hey, maybe being under a tight schedule will force them to innovate and change things up. Or maybe not. We shall see.

 

[Flight]

Personally, I would prefer to wait for a new Final Fantasy title instead of getting one every year. If Square Enix can't maintain the level of quality that has gone into Final Fantasy games so far, I wouldn't find it to be worth the cost of a new game annually. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say.

 

[viranimus]

/SMACK

BAD SQEENIX, BAD!!!! We do that outside !
. How abop
Look at em,they know what they did.

EDIT
Heres a thought, How about you finish the projects ya got before you try to expand output. Seriously, Vs is filling the void of vaporware left by Duke Nukem. Announced 5 years ago and still no release date in sight.

 

[Epona]

With two teams working on separate titles they could release a new title every two years while putting 4 years dev time into each title.

Let's not forget, during the franchises peak, they were putting out games that quickly. Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 and 10 all came out in a 4 year period. 7 came out in Sep 1997 and 10 came out in Dec 2001. Taking so long between titles (MMO's notwithstanding) has hurt them.

 

[MrBrightside919]

Another sign that the world is coming to an end...

 

[scorptatious]

A new FF game every year?

Joy. I look forward to the hundreds of threads that will come on here talking about how there are too many RPG's on the market and how they are ruining the game industry.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Every two years would be good enough. Just stop wasting your teams on direct sequels, which will inevitably make less money than a major installment, and you should be fine.

 

[Epona]

Every two years would be good enough. Just stop wasting your teams on direct sequels, which will inevitably make less money than a major installment, and you should be fine.

Direct sequels cost alot less since they re-use the resources.

 

[Baresark]

Wow, that is not a good read of the market. I mean, they all want that CoD money, those games are short and simple compared to Final Fantasy titles (in general).

 

[Strain42]

Square, have you ever heard of the expression "quality over quantity"?

Now then, how about you put Final Fantasy down for a moment and give us a new Mana game instead?

The fans are still pretty hurt after Dawn and Heroes and we need something to make us feel better.

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

One game per year, or sections of one game over the course of years?
FFXV-4 anyone?

 

[Epona]

Square, have you ever heard of the expression "quality over quantity"?

Now then, how about you put Final Fantasy down for a moment and give us a new Mana game instead?

The fans are still pretty hurt after Dawn and Heroes and we need something to make us feel better.

Really, you want another failed Mana game? The last great Mana game was on the SNES and every one since then has been a failure. What makes you think the next Mana game will be great?

 

[Mr Pantomime]

I thought there WAS a new Final Fantasy game every year, in one form or another.

 

[Ipsen]

Priorities, Squeenix.

If your focus is the fans, you'd be wise to aware that we're used to the wait; most of us have been through more than 2 other final fantasy titles, or at least know about/want to play others. A final fantasy every year doesn't fix the stinking bog that I see ahead as your future releases.

Plus, no one likes to pay for an installment every year. Call of Duty players play a very similar game every year (admit it), while it does sell well, it's just....Call of Duty. You can't play that game with story-focused titles like Final Fantasy. It always seems Squeenix's next 'best' idea for FF sends it further down the toilet...

 

[Epona]

I thought there WAS a new Final Fantasy game every year, in one form or another.

Not main series titles, numbered titles.

 

[Kwatsu]

And yet Versus XIII still remains almost totally under wraps.

 

[The Great JT]

Too much Final Fantasy, Squeenix. At least try to break out of re-releasing Final Fantasy VII with slight modifications and calling it a sequel (shut up, you know they totally do that).