The Fate of Final Fantasy XVI

[Wolf Kanno]

As most talk of the FF brand either remains on the fantastic Shadowbringers expansion for FFXIV or is looking towards next year when we'll finally get part one of the VII Remake, SE has been strangely quiet about the next numbered installment. We hear a few things here and there from some SE creatives, but for the most part, it seems like SE isn't really ready to reveal what the next installment in the franchise is going to look like or whether it's even in development. Now granted, that's likely because VIIR is too big at the moment, and whatever news concerning it will simply get swallowed up by the media's attention to the franchise darling. So I guess my question is this: Do you think we'll even hear about XVI next year, or do you think we'll be farther along with VII R before they bother and will instead focus on smaller FF related projects in the meantime?

What is your thoughts on whether XVI is either along way off or maybe just around the corner?

[Bubba]

FFVIIR is gonna be taking up so much of their time. I seriously doubt this is in development yet.

FFXII released in 2006. There was a four-year gap before FFXIII released worldwide in 2010. There was a six-year gap before FFXV was released. I'm predicting an eight-year gap before we get FFXVI.

So yeah, some time in 2024.

[Karifean]

I doubt it's going to be made. There will be perhaps projects meant to be FF XVI but they'll be rebranded into other IPs. So in a way it's going to be "constantly around the corner but never actually there".

[Fynn]

It definitely won't be coming out any time before FFVII R is complete, because it's pretty obvious SE are banking on that as their main thing for the next couple of years. Doubt there's XVI in their 5-year plan, but beyond that? Why not. I'm still hoping all those old developers that are doing nothing but minor mobile game stuff are actually designing FFXVI in secret all this time (I'm looking at you, Hiroyuki Itou)

[Jessweeee♪]

FFVIIR is gonna be taking up so much of their time. I seriously doubt this is in development yet.

FFXII released in 2006. There was a four-year gap before FFXIII released worldwide in 2010. There was a six-year gap before FFXV was released. I'm predicting an eight-year gap before we get FFXVI.

So yeah, some time in 2024.

Lol don't forget all 3 games were featured at the same E3 conference.

[Aulayna]

Either way they'll announce it at least 5 years before they release it.

[WarZidane]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/drdtiu/new_concept_art_of_3rd_development_hq_s_yoshi_p/

Yoshi-P's in charge of a new project that is now heading into full development, which may very well be FFXVI. Given that his efforts on XIV were so successful, it wouldn't be surprising for SE management to want him to take on the next mainline game.

As for how far off it is, that's hard to estimate since these things vary wildly. 3 years is a solid development cycle for a game, but Square Enix is known for scrapping/resetting projects that are in development, massively lengthening it.

I will say that if this is FFXVI, I expect it to be done before VII R. Interviews have made it clear they don't even have a full vision of the next part of VII R yet, and given that the rest of the world shares few assets with Midgar, there will be no extra short development cycle for it either, I'd imagine. Never mind part 3 (or even 4, who knows how many they'll end with?)

[Bubba]

Weirdly, there have been rumours on Twitter today about this being in development.

Somebody posted some apparent concept art from the game...

76642

[Wolf Kanno]

Not sure if Yoshi-P's project is FFXVI but then again, no one knew Project Rapture was going to be FFXIV Version 1.0 at the time, so it's possible. He said that he hoped the next installment in the series would go back to a more traditional fantasy with less machines (https://www.tweaktown.com/news/64782/final-fantasy-xiv-director-teases-straightforward-fantasy/index.html).

[Depression Moon]

Man I don't know. I almost feel like I'm over Final Fantasy. I haven't played a new one since XII. Never got XIII because of the reception and XIV and XV mostly due to how my money was looking, but then I did get Persona 5 when I could've gotten XV so the reception of that game got me too.

[Wolf Kanno]

To be fair, I feel that Persona 5 was a vastly superior game to FFXV (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/170037-Square-Enix-Approval-Rating?p=3667342&viewfull=1#post3667342), but I happen to like both games.

[tony123]

Do the Final Fantasy games still sell like they used to? Havn't seen the numbers for the more recent FF releases but it seems like the gaming market in general is moving toward more gritty and realistic characters and narratives rather than the games and narratives that have characters like a Cloud or a Squall.

Remaking old games makes sense because those are the games people grew up with. However not sure people would be as receptive to similar characters in new games.

[Fox]

Do the Final Fantasy games still sell like they used to? Haven't seen the numbers for the more recent FF releases but it seems like the gaming market in general is moving toward more gritty and realistic characters and narratives rather than the games and narratives that have characters like a Cloud or a Squall.

Remaking old games makes sense because those are the games people grew up with. However not sure people would be as receptive to similar characters in new games.

Well, XV has sold around 9 million-ish to this point. Commercially, it's a pretty major success. A new game (that is actually good and marketed properly) with a cast and narrative along the lines of 7, 8, 9 will have absolutely no problem selling between 5 and 10 million. Absolutely no problem at all, and that's about on par with where Final Fantasy has always been. Let us not forget that while FF is by any objective measure a franchise that is commercially successful, it is not nor has it ever been one of the mega-hits of the industry.

For context, remember Final Fantasy VII? The genre-defining industry leading darling that has been a legendary classic for the past 22 years? It's sold about 12 million copies to date. Monster Hunter World has 14 million. Breath of the wild 16 million. Read Dead Redemption 2 26 million.

FF has it's niche, and the likes of Cloud and Squall ft in it absolutely fine.

[tony123]

Ahh ok that makes more sense than. I thought the FF games during the ps1 and ps2 eras were some of the biggest games on the console. If even VII-X were a little more niche than I realized than I guess the franchise hasn't fallen off that much.

You just look at current popular video game characters like Ellie from Last of Us and they just make the FF characters look a little silly.

[Jessweeee♪]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/drdtiu/new_concept_art_of_3rd_development_hq_s_yoshi_p/

Yoshi-P's in charge of a new project that is now heading into full development, which may very well be FFXVI. Given that his efforts on XIV were so successful, it wouldn't be surprising for SE management to want him to take on the next mainline game.

We know that what he's working on isn't MMO related. He has stated that they are never again going to be doing what they did when he was originally brought in for reviving FFXIV, working on the "new" MMO and the "current" MMO at the same time, that it was a special circumstance for fixing the shitshow that was original flavor FFXIV.

[Del Murder]

Both FFXIV and FFXV started in one direction and made some dramatic developmental turns before they ended up where they are now. So call me optimistic but I like to hope that they were the exception rather than the rule. I still hold out hope that FFXVI has been in development all along, SE has realized its error of early announcing games, and we'll get a preview of it in the next year with a 1-2 year release window. While I'm at it I might as well add that it will be a more nostalgic fantasy world based game like FFIX. I know, I'm living in a (final) fantasy world...

[Aulayna]

Honestly I'd quite like for FFXVI to be set in the universe of FFXIV, possibly before one of the earlier calamities, or on the First before it was flooded with light, or the Thirteenth before it was consumed by darkness. There's so much potential there for single-player experiences to flesh out the prior history of the universe of XIV from before XIV started, without it being confined to books.

Plus it'd be a good stepping stone to lure more people into XIV proper.