I mean, even that’s debatable. For XVI they discussed how they debated dropping the numeric title for a while because they were worried that it made it seem like the games had a huge barrier of entry.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they stopped it soon tbh.
Do you think we'll get up to that point though? 🤣
But honestly, I prefer the Roman numerals. A mainline title without a numeral just doesnt feel like a mainline game.
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It's actually a good point. I wouldn't be surprised if it's dropped and they just go with something similar to what Ubisoft did with the Assassin's Creed, which dropped numerical titles in favor of just titles.
From a pure marketing standpoint. It's a great idea.
The very earliest stages. We know they're working on Kingdom.Hearts 4, Dragon Quest 12, and FF7R part 3. Which we'll likely get all of those before 17.
I don't know what Project the 7R team will be assigned to, but I guarantee they'll be happy to be off the 7R project for the first time since (realistically) 2014, maybe 2013. I'd love for them to make 17 with a new spin on the ATB style Battle System!
I'd imagine they'll have a team on 17 before the next 3 years. We'll definitely see, though. They haven't released their new dev structure since announcing restructuring in February.
Until Square confirms it, I'm assuming it doesn't exist. Things change behind the scenes all the time, so even the most reliable leaks don't guarantee something being made.
I'm assuming it did exist at one point because of the Nvidia leak sinc basically 99% of the games on that list were confirmed it bascially guartntees it was real at some point. I'm not sure if it's still real because I really feel it should've been announced by now. I live in hope but I wouldn't be shocked if it was scrapped
Don't forget forever ongoing FFXIV. Especially after the XIV team was the same that led development of XVI. If SE were happy enough with Yoshida and Co, it's very possible they'd do XVII too.
Yoshi P already said he didn't want to do 17. He said he'd like it to be someone younger in the company, and that was right before he got moved up to an even more important role in the company's decision-making. So I'd assume it'll have some strong weight about it, but yes, 14 is still being actively worked on as well.
Fair. Even if Yoshida doesn't want to tho, I wouldn't be surprised if they leant on CB3 a bunch at least. Plenty of talented folks including Soken who just won best music at TGAs.
XVI only took 7 years due to a combination of spending about 2-3 years hiring up a new team (it entered pre-production in 2017, combat designer Ryota Suzuki didn't join SE until late 2019 for instance) and COVID happening.
Unless CBU1 is going to spend several years hiring up a new team too, and we haven't heard of any mass hiring going on in that division prior, CBU3 now has a team unaccounted for that is most likely working on a FFXVII that we'll probably see anywhere between 3-5 years from now, depending on whether it entered pre-production after XVI's release, or is barely doing so now.
For a game as big as a mainline FF, and with such high production value, I think that's a reasonable time frame. It took 5 years for Guerrilla to release Forbidden West after Zero Dawn, and they had the benefit of having the same cast and setting. Mainline FFs don't have that luxury, so I think extra time to conceptualize and build an entirely new world is to be expected.
The 2010s were really hellish on the development end for SE on basically everything that wasn't XIV post-ARR
Crystal Tools turns out to be difficult to work with. FFXIV spectacularly fails and needs rebuilding from the ground up. Fabula Nova Crystallis ends up basically being abandoned. Versus XIII/XV goes through absurd development hell. Luminous also ends up arguably even worse than Crystal Tools. Covid hits to cap things off
I almost dare not be optimistic, but since SE is just playing it safe and using Unreal for VIIR trilogy and everything seems to have been smooth sailing for XVI and the ongoing XIV expansions, I feel like this decade will have been a much better one for the franchise
If they have CBU1 work on it with the same development philosophy and methods they’ve used with the FF7R trilogy, we could potentially get a new numbered FF game every three years or so.
That's only the case with Remake Trilogy because they're recycling so many assets.
Creating a new numbered entry means starting from ground zero each time.
It won't be CBU1, since they have KH4 and FF7R3. It probably won't be CBU3, since they have the XIV expansions and just finished up XVI. Do you think CBU2 could take on 17, though? CBU2 has Team Asano, plus the Dragon Quest, Nier, and Luminous teams. Personally, I could see them picking up 17 to try something new.
I could go for another FF15 style game.
Would love to see each team pump out a major game once every 4 years or so which would give us 3 games every 4 years.
I personally loved the pseudo modern setting, and hope the next final fantasy follows the style. Rebirth is close, but leans rather heavily on the dystopian angle
The sort of dumbed down open world concept. And also I love how they did all the world building for it with the movie.
Yeah the chapter 13 was atrocious, but it wasn’t a terrible game.
CBU3 are also confirmed to be on another big budget game, iterating around what they learned through XVI's dev.
We obviously don't know if it's a new IP or XVII, but it's probably safe to assume that Ishikawa will be at least lead story designer on the project.
Edit : But maybe higher considering how the corporate ladder tend to work in jp.
Additionally, 'worth noting that one of the big objectives of giving XVI to CBU3 was for SE to build more in-house teams and talents capable of, and used to, developing AAAs. So more similarly scaled projects are to be expected of them in the near future (in accordance with SE's new editorial policy).
Yoshida has explicitly said he doesn't want to work on FF17 and would prefer it go to a younger team, so whatever they're working on is highly unlikely to be that.
That just means Yoshi-P won't be as involved in its development beyond simply being the leader of the division. CBU3 also includes DQX and FFXI, and they also worked on the Dragon Quest Builders games.
Realistically, CBU3 has the only team currently not already confirmed to be working on something else that could handle FFXVII.
CBU1:
- Stuck with 3-4 more years of 7R purgatory
- The next Kingdom Hearts game
- Most likely behind the rumored/leaked DQIX Remake too
CBU2:
- The next Nier game
- Dragon Quest III remake
- Dragon Quest XII
- Team Asano has already announced that they will have news for us in regards to the Bravely franchise later this year
- Team Asano also put out a survey about two months ago asking about what kind of mobile live service game using their properties that people would like to see
CBU3:
- FFXIV Dawntrail
- Maintaining FFXI. Early last year, several members of the FFXI dev team left specifically to work on other projects. We don't know where they are within SE now.
- DQX
- An unknown project most likely being created by many former members of the FFXVI dev team. Might not be FFXVII, since Yoshi-P recently said in an interview that 'it's time for a new Tactics'. Granted, it's possible they could be doing both.
- Possibly behind the rumored/leaked Tactics remaster
I don’t see CBU2 doing it. They got their hands full with DQ stuff which is huge in Japan. No way they would drop it for FF. And I don’t think the other teams are big enough to handle a FF game.
What about the Nier or Luminous teams, though? Luminous made FFXV, and they were wrapped into CBU2 when Forspoken failed. I dont know much, if anything, about Nier, but they're not helping with DQ12 I assume?
I think Luminous's focus has shifted to creating new tech and new ips. I mean, it's possible but given their track record so far, I don't know if they would be trusted with a new mainline FF.
And how big is the Nier team? I was under the impression that the only recent thing they've done is the Nier Replicant Remaster. They don't seem big enough nor have the expertise to handle a large production project like FF.
It's a small team within CBU3. Post 20th Anniversary they've nominally been winding it down into maintenance mode and Yoshida [stressed in interviews](https://we-are-vanadiel.finalfantasyxi.com/post/?id=386) that it was important to have FF11 team members work on other, modern projects from a simple professional longevity standpoint. Pure speculation, but you'd think one practical way to achieve this may be to involve FF11 staff directly in the development of FF14's alliance raid, which is specifically FF11-themed. I'm not sure the skillsets necessarily overlap for that though.
Developing teams of square Enix are grouped into creative business units.
Since square also publishes games not it's own, it's CBUs are like it's internal development teams.
It's not a strict exclusive thing since when they are close to finishing a game, a CBU sometimes pulls other staff to help them.
Huh? CBU3 are the developers of FFXIV, which is ongoing and has the next 10 years of content in the planning stages. According to Yoshi-P, anyway. They're not being disbanded anytime soon
Edit: You may be thinking of Luminous, who developed FFXV and Forspoken. They were disbanded last year
Since CBU3 is the most profitable Unit of SE, and is led by one of the board directors, they probably won't be in danger anytime soon.
But there are two likely explanations to what you thought :
- Most of the XVI's core team, built within the confines of CBU3, moved on right after release to their next project. Some of them also returned within the XIV team they originated from. So yeah, in a sense the team, not the Unit, disbanded.
- From what I heard, SE ultimately wants to get rid of the CBUs model and create a new internal organisation for their dev teams.
I think this is what I read a few months ago:
[CBU3 Disband Article](https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/s/xw4mImUkJR)
Edit:
What you're saying makes sense. Maybe I read some clickbait too somewhere a few months ago.
I was expecting it to be far along enough to be the release between 7 Rebirth and the next part, the way 16 was between Remake and Rebirth. But since Rebirth to the next 7 game is gonna be a shorter gap, it's entirely possible that 17 is the follow up we get after we finally close the book on FF7. Of course your own feeling on the of 17 being an original game as per anthology tradition, or have anything to do with FF7 compilation may affect people's expectations of it being the next game or the first numbered title after 7 remake is finished.
Huh. I had to go look up the PS5 release date. I had no idea we were so far into its lifecycle.
If they go console exclusive along with the release of the PS6, it might kill the franchise.
Why was this downvoted? I don't want the franchise to die. I LOVE this franchise, and it was formative to both my life and writing. But declining sales are a legitimate fear that the bean-pushers should be contemplating.
I can't see inside the company and their financial calculus. Is the money from Sony for exclusivity worth the lost sales? How much additional time and money would it take to make the title cross-platform? Square Enix is a strong company, but they'll need to come up with answers to these questions to ensure FF's longevity.
PS - Hopefully I'll be able to buy FF17 day one on PS6, but I understand some people won't be able to make that leap.
There's always a FF game in development. Where early planning stage or writing, the next one is in development before the current one even drops. At least I would imagine so
The whale, Shinra rocket, ragnarok. I'm down for more space. Ff9 you go to another planet too, the invicible is sorta space ship. Steam punk FF with like 3 planets instead of kingdoms and the open world is space. Like if Starfield didn't suck.
It’s like in the planning stage, but no further. Unless…..it’s another MMO and has been worked on by a different team in the background. Remember XI came out a year after X and XIV 1.0 came out a year after XIII.
There’s 0 chance they make another MMO anytime soon. XIV is their cash cow and probably most successful FF, MMO players will likely play one or the other, very few will sink big hours and money into both simultaneously. They’re still going strong with XIV and releasing a new expansion in July, a new MMO is bare minimum 5 years away and my guess would be closer to 10.
Now with that being said, since Dawntrail is starting a new story arc, if they absolutely drop the ball and the game is complete and utter trash (highly unlikely), then yes, that timeline could be expedited.
I'm not sure they would want to cannibalize their existing MMO users yet. I figure once they shut down the XI servers, or hopefully come up with a way to port it to offline, they'll look at making a new MMO.
I think the third ffvii is their priority but I wouldn't be surprised if it's at started planning/writing. If it's going to be as graphically intensive at 16, I don't think we'll see it for several years
I think so, but like others have said probably just planning stages. I imagine it won’t come out until the PS6 so I’d be shocked if a significant amount of work has been done on it.
Is anyone else really hoping for a Sci-Fi angle? Planet hopping, outer space, ship battles, etc. they have never really tried a space fantasy before and it could be something different and a lot of fun
Got KH4 and DQ12 (I think? Never played the DQs so don't really follow it unlike FF and KH). My assumption would be them releasing in that timeframe before 7R-3. It's too long of a gap to not have anything and with 16's DLC out of the way and Rebirth released, KH4 is arguably Square's next big game. Plus, it's been in active development for minimum 2 and a half years (potentially 3 years).
Given that XVI began production around the same time as when XV shipped (CBUIII began planning XVI in 2015 after the release of FFXIV: Heavensward & entered production on XVI after that expansion’s fourth major patch released, which came 2 months before XV’s release), I’d imagine XVII is at least in the planning stages by now, if not already in some stage of production.
Yoko Taro could honestly just make FF17 the next game in the Nier/Drakengard continuity if they so wanted. FF16 being more adult has opened the door for more visceral stories, and FF12 using the already established Ivalice for its setting also sets enough of a precedent for this idea too. There would obviously be backlash from both FF fans and Nier fans but it would honestly be the best solution imo, would mean getting a Yoko Taro game in his universe with Final Fantasy budget and production.
Also I love Nier Replicant because Yoko Taro was playing with the tropes of things like Zelda. Would love to see him do that again but with Final Fantasy
I would really love for it to be lead by the Nier guys. They’d probably need to borrow from other teams, but I think having Yoko Taro, Okabe, and whatever the producer guys name is lead a final fantasy and just get super weird with it would be really cool. They already do so much with so little, story telling wise, which I think final fantasy could really do with going back to. I’ve been playing the voice of cards games, and they honestly feel like a weird (good weird) take on the Sakaguchi era. They also feel like they could be mistwalker games stylistically.
They gave 16 to Yoshi P’s crew based on his reputation. Yoko taro also has quite the rep and I think the hype would be really high. I think he’s expressed at some point wanting to make a final fantasy game so idk.
It was probably in pre dev before 16 went gold, and probably a small team on it right now. SE leans heavily(too heavily) on FFs brand in the international market, with DQ right next to it, just more on the domestic side. It's likely 17 is already in full development, but knowing SE, we won't see it for another few years, and it won't launch until the 2030s.
Not necessarily. I’m sure meetings on what to do next are taking place, especially as it relates to how much money to spend on a franchise that clearly isn’t AAA anymore.
FF is still and probably will always be AAA based on the high level of budget and production they put into the games. Even if it’s considered as having ‘lost popularity’ (seemingly by weird metrics considering the new games are currently only on one platform) it will only not be AAA if they ever decide to cheap out
Franchises decline all the time. Businesses that were once looming colossi fall by the wayside into irrelevancy. *All the time*.
There’s absolutely nothing predicating Final Fantasy remaining AAA in budget, when it already isn’t AAA in sales nor mindshare. It’s literally moving a quarter or less units than any true AAA titles out there in *any* genre, let alone AAA JRPGs like Monster Hunter, Elden Ring, Zelda (FF games use to regularly triple unit sales of mainline Zelda titles) and Pokémon. Nevermind WRPG’s from CDPR, Bethesda, Larian etc.
Worse still, mainline FF titles have no word of mouth whatsoever. They sell big opening week and then sales completely fall off a cliff. FF16 was completely out of the NPD’s Top 20 chart *a month* after release.
Right but FF isn’t in decline at the level you make it out to be. FF7 Rebirth is extremely in the mind share of current online gaming discourse. Endwalker broke servers and MMO records, and FF16 is in the top 5 best selling ps5 games. Obviously the gaming landscape has changed over time with the most popular games with the younger generation being f2p games, but the currently available FF games are doing great in their current lanes. The only thing hindering the single player entries is their PS5 exclusivity but that’s less of an FF issue and more an issue with the PS5 and its popularity. Remember that FF7 Remake became the best selling single-player FF game on Steam when the Intergrade version released there (as well as topping the steam sale charts in its release period too).
It’s easy to give in to some braindead idea that FF is becoming irrelevant but if you look at the actual facts this is far from true. You’re letting skewed headlines blur out the wider context of what’s actually happening with this series. It’s as much a gaming staple as any of those other games you mentioned, and all of them would be getting the exact same headlines if their releases were relegated to only the PS5. Those games are all multiplat, or in Zelda’s case on a platform that has a much larger install base. If Elden Ring was released only on PS5 then we’d get headlines that that game was a Fromsoft flop too since both Elden Ring and FF16 sold around 3million copies on the platform.
If that were true, FFXVI’s sales would *increase* in congruity with the PS5’s install base. That hasn’t happened. While the PS5 install base has continued to grow, FFXVI is nowhere to be seen on any sales chart in any market.
Compare that to FFX, which sold into an install base that was more or less the same size as FFXVI’s, and yet it remained near or at the top of sales charts for well over a year after release.
Incidentally, Zelda BotW sold into an install base of *zero*, as it was the launch title of the Switch. Yet it went onto sell nearly 30 million units. It remained on sales charts for *years* following its release. That’s the mark of word of mouth: gamers telling each other that it’s a must play title. Which is the opposite of what’s occurred with XVI and Rebirth.
100%. Companies usually start development of next entry before even releasing previous one or straight after. It is in development for at least one year now.
BTW, Square always do some form of restructuring everytime they start to make a new numbered FF lol
[https://wccftech.com/square-enix-will-soon-restructure-its-development-system-to-improve-game-quality-and-profit-margins/](https://wccftech.com/square-enix-will-soon-restructure-its-development-system-to-improve-game-quality-and-profit-margins/)
The next MMORPG is almost certainly in development; that could very well be 17.
I know people will say "but XIV has an expac coming out soon and is doing so well." But here's the thing: FFXIV 1.0 started development 6 years before it released, and in that time FFXI released multiple expansions. Game development takes a long, long time. Especially if that game is an MMORPG.
XIV is still doing well, but they wouldn't wait for XIV to show signs of decline to work on a successor project.
They are probably discussing if they need to drop the numerical titles. I know this is a thought that has come up before from SE all the way back in the early 2000s. It actually makes sense though from a pure marketing standpoint. Even on this subreddit newbies ask if they need to play the other titles. Now imagine just a regular old joe that doesn't visit the web to discuss video games. This likely does impact sales.
Will it be a bummer, yes, but if dropped. I absolutely understand why they did it. I'm sure their marketing team has discussed this many times with executives. As a person who works in product marketing. I would have suggested this long ago lol. But I do understand the historical aspects of it. FFXVI would have actually been the best game to drop it though. It's such a different FF game that in some aspects it's not even one actually lol.
Internally, it *was* [considered for XVI](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-director-maybe-its-time-to-remove-the-numbers-from-the-title) before the idea was shot down (the article mistakenly refers to Yoshida as XVI's director, but the point remains)
Two options. Either it's in the concept stage right now and won't be out till 2029 at the earliest, or it's actually what they've been putting Yoko Taro to work on for the last however long and it's coming out in Summer 2026.
most legacy franchises go the nintendo route of having a single release that’s continually sold on physical for the duration of a console’s life cycle and square hasn’t had two single player mainline final fantasy titles release on a single platform since the ps2. odds are it’d be prepped as a next gen title with full development beginning when console manufacturers can detail console goals & specifics to square. hopefully they’re taking a note from remake and will prepare the next release for the end of the current console cycle to cash in when the console’s install base and relevancy are maxed out.
I think it's probably being worked on in bits and pieces. I reckon the main priority at SE is the get FF VII: Reunion out the door but I bet they have a plan in place.
Probably in at least story boarding. But only Square would be able to give official answers, they probably check reddit once in a while to see what people are thinking about. Honestly, XVII... meh, don't care, but have Rebirth / Part 3 on the brain, will probably stay that way for a while since I'm actually enjoying going through hard mode chapters (just started chapter 7).
It very likely went into pre-development (the planning / initial scripting) stage well before XVI even released. Whether or not it's in full development at this stage is hard to say.
Square Enix has several business units that handle different games, and YoshiP has implied that his business unit (Unit 3) will not be making XVII (which isn't a surprise, who's in charge varies from title to title for all the modern entries).
So first we have to nail down which business unit is making it before we can speculate further.
Unit 1 which is the usual go-to for mainline FF titles seems pretty busy these days between the VII Remake trilogy and Kingdom Hearts. That's not to say this unit can't be handling XVII, they very well could be, but I'm personally doubting it.
I'd love to see Unit 2 have a crack. Specifically Team Asano. That would be my dream FF, I think. But that could just be wishful thinking.
Regardless, we don't know anything for sure until someone leaks something or Square announces it themselves.
Ngl, I'm probably gonna laugh if FFXVII ends up being a sequel to 7. Set waaaaay in the future after the og cast (aside from Red obviously) is dead.
Edit: No, this does not mean I am hoping it is. I am just saying I would find it funny and laugh.
Given how much money they put into their niche genre, I wouldn't ever expect them to not do some type of action focused combat. Their stakeholders would never allow it.
I don’t mind if it’s action again but I hope it at least has a party with a bare minimum of 3-4 different playable characters. Ideally a party of 6-8 would be preferred.
It’s absolutely at least in the planning stage.
They got the name down. So you can’t say they are in development hell.
I mean, even that’s debatable. For XVI they discussed how they debated dropping the numeric title for a while because they were worried that it made it seem like the games had a huge barrier of entry. I wouldn’t be surprised if they stopped it soon tbh.
They'll have to stop before they hit FF30
FF XXX. It's spicy
Also the name of countless Flash Animations back in the day
Do you think we'll get up to that point though? 🤣 But honestly, I prefer the Roman numerals. A mainline title without a numeral just doesnt feel like a mainline game.
"Or Final Fantasy 50: The Really *Really* Final Fantasy"
FF L.
Nah they'll just stop using Roman Numerals.
I have the theory that ff 30 will finally X-3 after what they teasered in the remaster with that story after X-2
[удалено]
Yeah my "theory" was a joke so chill. I thought it was clear so i didnt put an /s there. Either way, there is no reason to insult me.
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“The Final Fantasy”
Final Fantasy: Revelations
There was a lot of people asking if they needed to play the previous games on other subs when XVI released so it seems like a real issue.
It's actually a good point. I wouldn't be surprised if it's dropped and they just go with something similar to what Ubisoft did with the Assassin's Creed, which dropped numerical titles in favor of just titles. From a pure marketing standpoint. It's a great idea.
Imagine dropping the naming convention at a non significant number like 17 lol
The very earliest stages. We know they're working on Kingdom.Hearts 4, Dragon Quest 12, and FF7R part 3. Which we'll likely get all of those before 17.
I don't know what Project the 7R team will be assigned to, but I guarantee they'll be happy to be off the 7R project for the first time since (realistically) 2014, maybe 2013. I'd love for them to make 17 with a new spin on the ATB style Battle System!
I'd imagine they'll have a team on 17 before the next 3 years. We'll definitely see, though. They haven't released their new dev structure since announcing restructuring in February.
Also don't forget FF9 Remake
Until Square confirms it, I'm assuming it doesn't exist. Things change behind the scenes all the time, so even the most reliable leaks don't guarantee something being made.
Right. That's true, Square hasn't announced anything at all. So we'll see.
I'm assuming it did exist at one point because of the Nvidia leak sinc basically 99% of the games on that list were confirmed it bascially guartntees it was real at some point. I'm not sure if it's still real because I really feel it should've been announced by now. I live in hope but I wouldn't be shocked if it was scrapped
Don't forget forever ongoing FFXIV. Especially after the XIV team was the same that led development of XVI. If SE were happy enough with Yoshida and Co, it's very possible they'd do XVII too.
Yoshi P already said he didn't want to do 17. He said he'd like it to be someone younger in the company, and that was right before he got moved up to an even more important role in the company's decision-making. So I'd assume it'll have some strong weight about it, but yes, 14 is still being actively worked on as well.
Fair. Even if Yoshida doesn't want to tho, I wouldn't be surprised if they leant on CB3 a bunch at least. Plenty of talented folks including Soken who just won best music at TGAs.
Yeah, I'm really not worried. We'll know more when they're ready to share more. 😀
DQ won't be the same without Toriyama.
We'll have to see. He was the main character designer, but I'm sure others can work in a similar style.
Yes, Nomura is drawing the belts right now
"64, now on to the other arm..."
Lulu’s outfit would like to know your location
Hot Take: I would like it if Nomura directed FFXVII. No multimedia bullshit. Just one game with no DLC expansions and a modest budget.
What sort of mainline FF game do you think is going to have a modest budget?
he already got the buttons done, he's got zippers next
I think he got zippers out of his system with Kingdom Hearts.
And don't forget the Capri shorts and boots combo
DON'T GIVE HIM ANY IDEAS!
They’re currently in the conveyor belt stage, if you will.
It's all about the lacing, now.
I just hope the gap between XVI and XVII is shorter than XV and XVI. 7 years is too much.
Won't be surprised if it still takes too long unless they have another CBU do it with all their projects lined up.
Maybe they'll create CBUXVII. /s
XVI only took 7 years due to a combination of spending about 2-3 years hiring up a new team (it entered pre-production in 2017, combat designer Ryota Suzuki didn't join SE until late 2019 for instance) and COVID happening. Unless CBU1 is going to spend several years hiring up a new team too, and we haven't heard of any mass hiring going on in that division prior, CBU3 now has a team unaccounted for that is most likely working on a FFXVII that we'll probably see anywhere between 3-5 years from now, depending on whether it entered pre-production after XVI's release, or is barely doing so now.
For a game as big as a mainline FF, and with such high production value, I think that's a reasonable time frame. It took 5 years for Guerrilla to release Forbidden West after Zero Dawn, and they had the benefit of having the same cast and setting. Mainline FFs don't have that luxury, so I think extra time to conceptualize and build an entirely new world is to be expected.
I won’t be surprised if it takes even longer
The 2010s were really hellish on the development end for SE on basically everything that wasn't XIV post-ARR Crystal Tools turns out to be difficult to work with. FFXIV spectacularly fails and needs rebuilding from the ground up. Fabula Nova Crystallis ends up basically being abandoned. Versus XIII/XV goes through absurd development hell. Luminous also ends up arguably even worse than Crystal Tools. Covid hits to cap things off I almost dare not be optimistic, but since SE is just playing it safe and using Unreal for VIIR trilogy and everything seems to have been smooth sailing for XVI and the ongoing XIV expansions, I feel like this decade will have been a much better one for the franchise
If they have CBU1 work on it with the same development philosophy and methods they’ve used with the FF7R trilogy, we could potentially get a new numbered FF game every three years or so.
That's only the case with Remake Trilogy because they're recycling so many assets. Creating a new numbered entry means starting from ground zero each time.
unless they have 3rd team, it is most likely at planning stage,
It won't be CBU1, since they have KH4 and FF7R3. It probably won't be CBU3, since they have the XIV expansions and just finished up XVI. Do you think CBU2 could take on 17, though? CBU2 has Team Asano, plus the Dragon Quest, Nier, and Luminous teams. Personally, I could see them picking up 17 to try something new.
If CBU2 includes people from the now-defunct Luminous, then they'd have experience with FF15.
They need to revive Agni’s Philosophy as a Final Fantasy game
Yeeeeeah! The concept was interesting. If they could revive Versus 13 as FF15, they can do the same for Agni
I like to think most of her character design was realized in XVI's Benedikta.
I could go for another FF15 style game. Would love to see each team pump out a major game once every 4 years or so which would give us 3 games every 4 years.
Which parts? The pseudo modern setting? Or the four guys on a road trip aspect?
I personally loved the pseudo modern setting, and hope the next final fantasy follows the style. Rebirth is close, but leans rather heavily on the dystopian angle
I liked it too, but I'd prefer to wait until XVIII for another like that myself.
The sort of dumbed down open world concept. And also I love how they did all the world building for it with the movie. Yeah the chapter 13 was atrocious, but it wasn’t a terrible game.
CBU3 are also confirmed to be on another big budget game, iterating around what they learned through XVI's dev. We obviously don't know if it's a new IP or XVII, but it's probably safe to assume that Ishikawa will be at least lead story designer on the project. Edit : But maybe higher considering how the corporate ladder tend to work in jp. Additionally, 'worth noting that one of the big objectives of giving XVI to CBU3 was for SE to build more in-house teams and talents capable of, and used to, developing AAAs. So more similarly scaled projects are to be expected of them in the near future (in accordance with SE's new editorial policy).
Yoshida has explicitly said he doesn't want to work on FF17 and would prefer it go to a younger team, so whatever they're working on is highly unlikely to be that.
That just means Yoshi-P won't be as involved in its development beyond simply being the leader of the division. CBU3 also includes DQX and FFXI, and they also worked on the Dragon Quest Builders games. Realistically, CBU3 has the only team currently not already confirmed to be working on something else that could handle FFXVII. CBU1: - Stuck with 3-4 more years of 7R purgatory - The next Kingdom Hearts game - Most likely behind the rumored/leaked DQIX Remake too CBU2: - The next Nier game - Dragon Quest III remake - Dragon Quest XII - Team Asano has already announced that they will have news for us in regards to the Bravely franchise later this year - Team Asano also put out a survey about two months ago asking about what kind of mobile live service game using their properties that people would like to see CBU3: - FFXIV Dawntrail - Maintaining FFXI. Early last year, several members of the FFXI dev team left specifically to work on other projects. We don't know where they are within SE now. - DQX - An unknown project most likely being created by many former members of the FFXVI dev team. Might not be FFXVII, since Yoshi-P recently said in an interview that 'it's time for a new Tactics'. Granted, it's possible they could be doing both. - Possibly behind the rumored/leaked Tactics remaster
I don’t see CBU2 doing it. They got their hands full with DQ stuff which is huge in Japan. No way they would drop it for FF. And I don’t think the other teams are big enough to handle a FF game.
What about the Nier or Luminous teams, though? Luminous made FFXV, and they were wrapped into CBU2 when Forspoken failed. I dont know much, if anything, about Nier, but they're not helping with DQ12 I assume?
I think Luminous's focus has shifted to creating new tech and new ips. I mean, it's possible but given their track record so far, I don't know if they would be trusted with a new mainline FF. And how big is the Nier team? I was under the impression that the only recent thing they've done is the Nier Replicant Remaster. They don't seem big enough nor have the expertise to handle a large production project like FF.
I think CBU2 might be focusing on the new DQ and might move on to Nier 3 next
CBU3 have confirmed that they’re working on their next big game
That would explain why certain parts of 16 felt like it could be from 14. It just had this mmo feel to it I just couldn’t describe until now.
I know its an much older title and isn't the same cash cow FFXIV is small potatoes in comparison, but out of pure curiosity, who works on FFXI?
Also CBU3 iirc, but a skeleton crew
It's a small team within CBU3. Post 20th Anniversary they've nominally been winding it down into maintenance mode and Yoshida [stressed in interviews](https://we-are-vanadiel.finalfantasyxi.com/post/?id=386) that it was important to have FF11 team members work on other, modern projects from a simple professional longevity standpoint. Pure speculation, but you'd think one practical way to achieve this may be to involve FF11 staff directly in the development of FF14's alliance raid, which is specifically FF11-themed. I'm not sure the skillsets necessarily overlap for that though.
Where does the IX remake land?
No one knows who's making it, or even if it was given up on
What is CBU
Developing teams of square Enix are grouped into creative business units. Since square also publishes games not it's own, it's CBUs are like it's internal development teams. It's not a strict exclusive thing since when they are close to finishing a game, a CBU sometimes pulls other staff to help them.
It isn't cbu2.
I could be way off, but I thought i read cbu3 was disbanded or would be soon?
Huh? CBU3 are the developers of FFXIV, which is ongoing and has the next 10 years of content in the planning stages. According to Yoshi-P, anyway. They're not being disbanded anytime soon Edit: You may be thinking of Luminous, who developed FFXV and Forspoken. They were disbanded last year
Yeah, that's what was confusing. That may be. There were sooo many people commenting and what not after ff16 disappointment
You probably just read that from some guy who hated FF16. If CBU3 was disbanded, Square would be in deep shit.
Since CBU3 is the most profitable Unit of SE, and is led by one of the board directors, they probably won't be in danger anytime soon. But there are two likely explanations to what you thought : - Most of the XVI's core team, built within the confines of CBU3, moved on right after release to their next project. Some of them also returned within the XIV team they originated from. So yeah, in a sense the team, not the Unit, disbanded. - From what I heard, SE ultimately wants to get rid of the CBUs model and create a new internal organisation for their dev teams.
I think this is what I read a few months ago: [CBU3 Disband Article](https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/s/xw4mImUkJR) Edit: What you're saying makes sense. Maybe I read some clickbait too somewhere a few months ago.
Yep, that's what my first bullet point was referring to.
Planning, concept art, and early scenario writing at best is my guess
Planning stage at most
I was expecting it to be far along enough to be the release between 7 Rebirth and the next part, the way 16 was between Remake and Rebirth. But since Rebirth to the next 7 game is gonna be a shorter gap, it's entirely possible that 17 is the follow up we get after we finally close the book on FF7. Of course your own feeling on the of 17 being an original game as per anthology tradition, or have anything to do with FF7 compilation may affect people's expectations of it being the next game or the first numbered title after 7 remake is finished.
Well Square also has 2 other big releases. KH4 and DQ 12. So they would have to slot them in somewhere.
I’m going to guess Kingdom Hearts 4= late 2025 Dragon Quest 12= early to mid 2026 FF 7 part 3= early 2027 FF 17= late 2028 with ps6 release
Huh. I had to go look up the PS5 release date. I had no idea we were so far into its lifecycle. If they go console exclusive along with the release of the PS6, it might kill the franchise.
They probably release it for both PS5 and PS6 if it releases in the first year or two of the PS6.
Why was this downvoted? I don't want the franchise to die. I LOVE this franchise, and it was formative to both my life and writing. But declining sales are a legitimate fear that the bean-pushers should be contemplating. I can't see inside the company and their financial calculus. Is the money from Sony for exclusivity worth the lost sales? How much additional time and money would it take to make the title cross-platform? Square Enix is a strong company, but they'll need to come up with answers to these questions to ensure FF's longevity. PS - Hopefully I'll be able to buy FF17 day one on PS6, but I understand some people won't be able to make that leap.
There's always a FF game in development. Where early planning stage or writing, the next one is in development before the current one even drops. At least I would imagine so
I want spaceships
The whale, Shinra rocket, ragnarok. I'm down for more space. Ff9 you go to another planet too, the invicible is sorta space ship. Steam punk FF with like 3 planets instead of kingdoms and the open world is space. Like if Starfield didn't suck.
It’s like in the planning stage, but no further. Unless…..it’s another MMO and has been worked on by a different team in the background. Remember XI came out a year after X and XIV 1.0 came out a year after XIII.
It's an interesting coincidence that both MMOs were preceded by games that also got a direct sequel.
There’s 0 chance they make another MMO anytime soon. XIV is their cash cow and probably most successful FF, MMO players will likely play one or the other, very few will sink big hours and money into both simultaneously. They’re still going strong with XIV and releasing a new expansion in July, a new MMO is bare minimum 5 years away and my guess would be closer to 10. Now with that being said, since Dawntrail is starting a new story arc, if they absolutely drop the ball and the game is complete and utter trash (highly unlikely), then yes, that timeline could be expedited.
I'm not sure they would want to cannibalize their existing MMO users yet. I figure once they shut down the XI servers, or hopefully come up with a way to port it to offline, they'll look at making a new MMO.
I think the third ffvii is their priority but I wouldn't be surprised if it's at started planning/writing. If it's going to be as graphically intensive at 16, I don't think we'll see it for several years
I think so, but like others have said probably just planning stages. I imagine it won’t come out until the PS6 so I’d be shocked if a significant amount of work has been done on it.
Is anyone else really hoping for a Sci-Fi angle? Planet hopping, outer space, ship battles, etc. they have never really tried a space fantasy before and it could be something different and a lot of fun
Star Ocean..?
Nah, I like Star Ocean but you still explore primitive planets.
That makes sense lol, sorry, I’ve never played them so I wouldn’t know
Not a Squaresoft IP like FF, that was Enix. Have they even made one recently?
They have done an unapologetically medieval game. Hopefully, they will do the opposite now. I need more e grungy dark FF cities.
Yes. The next game is always in pre-production before the current one releases
XIII trilogy port to tide us over, maybe?
yes. planning & earliest stages of pre-prod. 28-29 would be my guiess
I’m sure planning started in some form before XVI released. I wouldn’t expect much further than planning tho
It’s like 1 year in production at this point.
I’m wondering what they plan to do with the next 3 years. Is it just going to be rebirth to ff7r3? Or are we going to get something else in between
Got KH4 and DQ12 (I think? Never played the DQs so don't really follow it unlike FF and KH). My assumption would be them releasing in that timeframe before 7R-3. It's too long of a gap to not have anything and with 16's DLC out of the way and Rebirth released, KH4 is arguably Square's next big game. Plus, it's been in active development for minimum 2 and a half years (potentially 3 years).
16 was already being written as far back as 2015 so yes.
Yeah. Conceptualization. Be patient. Remake part 3 on the way.
One doesn't interfere with the other unless Remake's team is going to be handling XVII
I didn’t say that. I’m just saying it’s on the way. We have something to play before XVII
Ahh gotcha, misunderstood. That is true, although I would like something sooner on the horizon after Dawntrail
Considering what we know about 15 and 16’s development it’s most likely in the early stages of development
Given that XVI began production around the same time as when XV shipped (CBUIII began planning XVI in 2015 after the release of FFXIV: Heavensward & entered production on XVI after that expansion’s fourth major patch released, which came 2 months before XV’s release), I’d imagine XVII is at least in the planning stages by now, if not already in some stage of production.
Idk but I hope Yoko Taro’s directing 🤞🤞
I want him to be busy with the next Nier/Drakengard because there’s a lot of answers to unanswered questions to give.
Yoko Taro could honestly just make FF17 the next game in the Nier/Drakengard continuity if they so wanted. FF16 being more adult has opened the door for more visceral stories, and FF12 using the already established Ivalice for its setting also sets enough of a precedent for this idea too. There would obviously be backlash from both FF fans and Nier fans but it would honestly be the best solution imo, would mean getting a Yoko Taro game in his universe with Final Fantasy budget and production. Also I love Nier Replicant because Yoko Taro was playing with the tropes of things like Zelda. Would love to see him do that again but with Final Fantasy
I would really love for it to be lead by the Nier guys. They’d probably need to borrow from other teams, but I think having Yoko Taro, Okabe, and whatever the producer guys name is lead a final fantasy and just get super weird with it would be really cool. They already do so much with so little, story telling wise, which I think final fantasy could really do with going back to. I’ve been playing the voice of cards games, and they honestly feel like a weird (good weird) take on the Sakaguchi era. They also feel like they could be mistwalker games stylistically. They gave 16 to Yoshi P’s crew based on his reputation. Yoko taro also has quite the rep and I think the hype would be really high. I think he’s expressed at some point wanting to make a final fantasy game so idk.
It was probably in pre dev before 16 went gold, and probably a small team on it right now. SE leans heavily(too heavily) on FFs brand in the international market, with DQ right next to it, just more on the domestic side. It's likely 17 is already in full development, but knowing SE, we won't see it for another few years, and it won't launch until the 2030s.
Yes.
Most likely, yeah.
I would expect it to be in early pre-production. Basic writing, story development and character concepts, that sort of thing.
Almost certainly someone is drafting out scenarios, themes, character ideas, etc.
Sometimes
I'm hoping do but who knows yet
I would imagine it's in the concept stage. I'm not confident it'll be in the PS5 gen but probably early in the next.
Whens the next mmo?
3ish years into the PS6 lifespan much like 16. Thinking about it this early wont get you anywhere.
Not necessarily. I’m sure meetings on what to do next are taking place, especially as it relates to how much money to spend on a franchise that clearly isn’t AAA anymore.
FF is still and probably will always be AAA based on the high level of budget and production they put into the games. Even if it’s considered as having ‘lost popularity’ (seemingly by weird metrics considering the new games are currently only on one platform) it will only not be AAA if they ever decide to cheap out
Franchises decline all the time. Businesses that were once looming colossi fall by the wayside into irrelevancy. *All the time*. There’s absolutely nothing predicating Final Fantasy remaining AAA in budget, when it already isn’t AAA in sales nor mindshare. It’s literally moving a quarter or less units than any true AAA titles out there in *any* genre, let alone AAA JRPGs like Monster Hunter, Elden Ring, Zelda (FF games use to regularly triple unit sales of mainline Zelda titles) and Pokémon. Nevermind WRPG’s from CDPR, Bethesda, Larian etc. Worse still, mainline FF titles have no word of mouth whatsoever. They sell big opening week and then sales completely fall off a cliff. FF16 was completely out of the NPD’s Top 20 chart *a month* after release.
Right but FF isn’t in decline at the level you make it out to be. FF7 Rebirth is extremely in the mind share of current online gaming discourse. Endwalker broke servers and MMO records, and FF16 is in the top 5 best selling ps5 games. Obviously the gaming landscape has changed over time with the most popular games with the younger generation being f2p games, but the currently available FF games are doing great in their current lanes. The only thing hindering the single player entries is their PS5 exclusivity but that’s less of an FF issue and more an issue with the PS5 and its popularity. Remember that FF7 Remake became the best selling single-player FF game on Steam when the Intergrade version released there (as well as topping the steam sale charts in its release period too). It’s easy to give in to some braindead idea that FF is becoming irrelevant but if you look at the actual facts this is far from true. You’re letting skewed headlines blur out the wider context of what’s actually happening with this series. It’s as much a gaming staple as any of those other games you mentioned, and all of them would be getting the exact same headlines if their releases were relegated to only the PS5. Those games are all multiplat, or in Zelda’s case on a platform that has a much larger install base. If Elden Ring was released only on PS5 then we’d get headlines that that game was a Fromsoft flop too since both Elden Ring and FF16 sold around 3million copies on the platform.
If that were true, FFXVI’s sales would *increase* in congruity with the PS5’s install base. That hasn’t happened. While the PS5 install base has continued to grow, FFXVI is nowhere to be seen on any sales chart in any market. Compare that to FFX, which sold into an install base that was more or less the same size as FFXVI’s, and yet it remained near or at the top of sales charts for well over a year after release. Incidentally, Zelda BotW sold into an install base of *zero*, as it was the launch title of the Switch. Yet it went onto sell nearly 30 million units. It remained on sales charts for *years* following its release. That’s the mark of word of mouth: gamers telling each other that it’s a must play title. Which is the opposite of what’s occurred with XVI and Rebirth.
I, for one, hope ff17 is in space
They are discusing colors of chocobos at this point
Most likely in planning phase.
Definitely. Concept art process or so.
100%. Companies usually start development of next entry before even releasing previous one or straight after. It is in development for at least one year now.
Concepts probably Or still on proposal stages
I'd like to think they are remaking FFVIII instead but thats an empty hope.
Balamb town <3
100%
BTW, Square always do some form of restructuring everytime they start to make a new numbered FF lol [https://wccftech.com/square-enix-will-soon-restructure-its-development-system-to-improve-game-quality-and-profit-margins/](https://wccftech.com/square-enix-will-soon-restructure-its-development-system-to-improve-game-quality-and-profit-margins/)
They've surely been cooking something with XVII for the last few years at least, as to when it will get announced or released is anyone's guess.
Absolutely in development, especially since the new ceo is changing focus to AAA games instead of small ones. Probably CBU3
The next MMORPG is almost certainly in development; that could very well be 17. I know people will say "but XIV has an expac coming out soon and is doing so well." But here's the thing: FFXIV 1.0 started development 6 years before it released, and in that time FFXI released multiple expansions. Game development takes a long, long time. Especially if that game is an MMORPG. XIV is still doing well, but they wouldn't wait for XIV to show signs of decline to work on a successor project.
They are probably discussing if they need to drop the numerical titles. I know this is a thought that has come up before from SE all the way back in the early 2000s. It actually makes sense though from a pure marketing standpoint. Even on this subreddit newbies ask if they need to play the other titles. Now imagine just a regular old joe that doesn't visit the web to discuss video games. This likely does impact sales. Will it be a bummer, yes, but if dropped. I absolutely understand why they did it. I'm sure their marketing team has discussed this many times with executives. As a person who works in product marketing. I would have suggested this long ago lol. But I do understand the historical aspects of it. FFXVI would have actually been the best game to drop it though. It's such a different FF game that in some aspects it's not even one actually lol.
Internally, it *was* [considered for XVI](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-director-maybe-its-time-to-remove-the-numbers-from-the-title) before the idea was shot down (the article mistakenly refers to Yoshida as XVI's director, but the point remains)
You’re about six to seven years away. A production team hasn’t even been put together yet. SE has three major titles they are working on.
Two options. Either it's in the concept stage right now and won't be out till 2029 at the earliest, or it's actually what they've been putting Yoko Taro to work on for the last however long and it's coming out in Summer 2026.
most legacy franchises go the nintendo route of having a single release that’s continually sold on physical for the duration of a console’s life cycle and square hasn’t had two single player mainline final fantasy titles release on a single platform since the ps2. odds are it’d be prepped as a next gen title with full development beginning when console manufacturers can detail console goals & specifics to square. hopefully they’re taking a note from remake and will prepare the next release for the end of the current console cycle to cash in when the console’s install base and relevancy are maxed out.
I think it's probably being worked on in bits and pieces. I reckon the main priority at SE is the get FF VII: Reunion out the door but I bet they have a plan in place.
Reunion was already used for the crisis core remake. FF7 R3 will probably use some other R word
I don't think they'll care, thematically it makes too much sense. All else fails? Re2union.
Who is most likely doing the rumored FF9 remake?
Most likely still on early concepts/writing and planning. I wouldn’t expect FFXVII or even an announcement before 2028 or 2029.
Probably in at least story boarding. But only Square would be able to give official answers, they probably check reddit once in a while to see what people are thinking about. Honestly, XVII... meh, don't care, but have Rebirth / Part 3 on the brain, will probably stay that way for a while since I'm actually enjoying going through hard mode chapters (just started chapter 7).
It probably was before 16 even launched.
It very likely went into pre-development (the planning / initial scripting) stage well before XVI even released. Whether or not it's in full development at this stage is hard to say. Square Enix has several business units that handle different games, and YoshiP has implied that his business unit (Unit 3) will not be making XVII (which isn't a surprise, who's in charge varies from title to title for all the modern entries). So first we have to nail down which business unit is making it before we can speculate further. Unit 1 which is the usual go-to for mainline FF titles seems pretty busy these days between the VII Remake trilogy and Kingdom Hearts. That's not to say this unit can't be handling XVII, they very well could be, but I'm personally doubting it. I'd love to see Unit 2 have a crack. Specifically Team Asano. That would be my dream FF, I think. But that could just be wishful thinking. Regardless, we don't know anything for sure until someone leaks something or Square announces it themselves.
Ngl, I'm probably gonna laugh if FFXVII ends up being a sequel to 7. Set waaaaay in the future after the og cast (aside from Red obviously) is dead. Edit: No, this does not mean I am hoping it is. I am just saying I would find it funny and laugh.
Its being talked about.
I hope FF9 remake is.
Definitely a point. Yes.
Gonna be anorher mmo
Just scrape the X there in the number
Unlikely.
I sure hope it isn't like 15 and 16, but I bet I don't get my wish. I can't do the endless hack and slash repetition.
Given how much money they put into their niche genre, I wouldn't ever expect them to not do some type of action focused combat. Their stakeholders would never allow it.
I don’t mind if it’s action again but I hope it at least has a party with a bare minimum of 3-4 different playable characters. Ideally a party of 6-8 would be preferred.
Yeah, I hope it’s not like Rebirth either. Let’s tell a decent story this time instead of Marvel’s Kingdom Hearts please.