470°

Final Fantasy XV May See 2016 Western Release If PlayStation 4 Sells Well In Japan

Final Fantasy XV (previously known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII) is an upcoming new Final Fantasy title for the next-generation consoles; the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Originally intended to be released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 system before moving on to next-generation consoles with a title change, Final Fantasy XV has been in development since 2006. Final Fantasy Versus XIII was the most hyped title between gamers as it moves away from traditional role-playing titles in the Final Fantasy series and introduces Action role-playing genre to the series.

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gearnuke.com
Eonjay3857d ago

There is 0% chance that this will be Japan only.

vishmarx3857d ago

1.ps4 and xb1
already have more than 2 million preorders .bad sales out of question
2.SE isnt going broke anytime soon.
theres no reason why theyd keep the most hyped and delayed title of the last 8 years in japan only.
3.when has a console ff never made west
how does such a doubt even arise?

andrewsqual3856d ago

With every passing month since 2006 this game lost more hype. Dark Souls 2 is a more hyped up game then this train wreck. A lot of people wouldn't even care if they cancelled this game tomorrow.

TristanPR773856d ago

Sony said they have more than one million pre orders but Microsoft has never said anything about their pre orders numbers.

deep_fried_bum_cake3856d ago

andrewsqual

Don't state your false opinion as if it's fact.

Army_of_Darkness3856d ago

A 2016 release?!? Are u fu@*ing me!?!

FamilyGuy3856d ago

Article /opinion piece, says nothing about it being japan exclusive so what are you guys going on about?
If anything it's just trying to claim that the release date will be reliant on japans install base of PS4s. It's ridiculous in all capacities either way.

It's not "baseless" just a hair-brained theory as SE never claimed to wait on install base growth. On top of that there's the fact that FF is a "system seller" so fans would be picking it up regardless, even if they're picking the system at the same time.

3856d ago
guitarded773856d ago (Edited 3856d ago )

They announced it at E3... it will be available in the West. NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.

As for an all regions simultaneous release... probably not.

mrbojingles3856d ago

Yes but every console starts hot out of the gate. Wii U grabbed 1 million in its first two months and was sold out for a while. Things change. Vita too. I'm not saying, by any means, that Xbox One or PS4 will fail or sell all that badly. I just would be prepared for sub-100k sales in America from January-August 2014 because the facts are that both consoles have clear dry spell of software in the early months of the year. There's like InFamous for PS4 in Feb, then Destiny/TitanFall/Watch Dogs in spring but those three games are coming to PS3/360 (TitanFall on 360) so I don't think as many people will upgrade until we get a flood of next-gen exclusives in late 2014 or 2015.

kupomogli3856d ago (Edited 3856d ago )

@deep_fried_bum_cake

Actually he's not. With quality of Final Fantasy becoming worse and the long delay of Final Fantasy Versus 13, a lot of people have become disinterested in it.

"A lot" doesn't amount to "all" so while there are a lot of people who are really interested in getting the game still, there are a lot of others who are no longer interested, or at the very least, much less interested than they were when it was initially announced.

Also, there's really no need to make the opinion/fact statement. He's just giving his opinion as how he sees it, and according to how many agrees there are, those people agree with his view. Currently 33% agree with his opinion. 67% disagree.

There are so many people who take other opinions to heart, that any time you say something unsatisfactory towards a subject they favor, they throw the opinion/fact comment out there when you're displaying your opinion. It's really annoying because half of the time, the person is being attacked by stating his opinion as fact when comments are nothing more than opinion. It's just an opinion that people happen not to like.

levian3856d ago (Edited 3856d ago )

Edit

Deadpoolio3856d ago

Yeah um No way does Microsoft have a million pre-orders....Wishful thinking though

mikeslemonade3856d ago

People in Japan need to be smack upside the head. Stop buying 3DS and PSP1 games. Those things are lame..

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 3856d ago
Saviour3856d ago

There's no reason ps4 not doing well in japan, This will sell like hot cakes in westren too.

Tetsujin3856d ago

"If" and I mean a big "if" this is true, there will be other games by then I'll enjoy and play, skipping over this entirely. My hype for this died the moment it changed to 15, and still no ETA on release. Ten years (roughly) for a game to come out is way too long for development, and almost not worth even mentioning.

Unless a reasonable ETA is mentioned I don't even want to hear about this game anymore.

3856d ago
Tetsujin3856d ago

With Duke Nukem there was issues that required time and legal battles, so I understood the situation, and it was something that wasn't brought up over and over again. I personally liked Duke Nukem for the 90s references; however the other 98% of the internet hated the game for whatever reason (to each their own I say).

With 15 I'm sick of the hype they keep putting out just to find out later it's pushed back even further, no ETA, and the only saving grace currently is Wada dropped from SE as CEO so hopefully this new guy actually forces something positive out.

DOMination-3856d ago

2016 is a long time to wait for a game that currently looks pretty crappy. Nobody asked for crappy looking real time action battles. Most people who like FF now is because of the pre-FF11 era and want games like that. Typical jap devs not listening to what people want.

ritsuka6663856d ago (Edited 3856d ago )

People think PS4 will sell well in japan are delusional. Btw, Final fantasy franchise are no more popular in japan.

Pintheshadows3856d ago

Take a long hard look at yourself before you start calling people delusional.

AbortMission3856d ago

"People think PS4 will sell well in japan are delusional."

"X from monolith soft will kick ass of Final Fantasy. just mark my words."

The only person here delusional is you Lmao.

3-4-53856d ago

o wow 2016. I was hoping for 2015.

Square! Stop showing your games off 3 years in advance.

It's just going to annoy people.

How haven't you learned this by now ?

Ol_G3856d ago

three years? they announced it way back in 2006 if i'm not mistaken thats 10 years in advance .
I was planning to buy a Ps4 when this came out but 2016 !!!

adorie3856d ago

I don't think so. I think this game is getting full on development and will be out in Japan/West in 2015 at the latest.

Magicite3856d ago

I hope FF15 comes out next year.

Sideras3856d ago

It's Square Enix we are talking about here, not the brightest company around.

3856d ago Replies(1)
Lboogieskells3856d ago

This game will definitely Drop early 2015.

:)

colonel1793856d ago

Agree! This article is rubbish!

My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante3856d ago

There is a 0% chance that FF Type 0 will be Japan only.

PSP probably didn't sell well in Japan.

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 3856d ago
Abriael3857d ago (Edited 3857d ago )

Completely baseless speculation, especially considering that SE's new president clearly said in several occasions that they want to radically speed up releases.

Just because something is said on Neogaf, it doesn't mean it's true or grounded in reality.

DarkLordMalik3857d ago

Not completely baseless. They did say something similar regarding FF XIII even though it might as well be related to its troubled development.

At best, i expect a late 2014 release for FF XV and at worse, sometimes in 2015 for Japan and 2016 for West unless they launch it Worldwide simultaneously.

Remember, even FF XV is using an engine which is in development just like FF XIII. Luminous Engine is not ready yet and is still being worked on.

torchic3856d ago

nothing concrete has been said about the engine in Final Fantasy XV. Versus XIII was using Crystal Tools and then Luminous for lighting.

haven't heard anything about Luminous not being ready as well, have a link?

this is how misinformation spreads.

DarkLordMalik3856d ago

@Torchic:
“Yes, I think I can tell you that we’ve already entered that phase,” Hashimoto says. “However, the engine itself is not yet fully finished, so we’re not working on anything full-time. Right now arrangements are being made as we prepare to work using the real thing.”
http://www.edge-online.com/...

This is from November 2012 BTW.

Again, i am not wishing for a 2016 release and i would really love to have a 2014 release but it is pretty hard to see it happening.

If FF XV is playable at E3 2014, we can definitely expect a 2014 release.

Abriael3857d ago (Edited 3857d ago )

New president. New policies. This one didn't say "something similar". He said explicitly that releases will be much faster in several occasions, even in the official annual report for shareholders.

By the way "luminous engine is not ready yet" is inaccurate. There's no recent mention on the state of readyness of the engine. As a matter of fact calling an engine "ready" is inaccurate in itself, as engines, especially proprietary ones, are ever-evolving entities, and their state is not communicated to the public.

A 2016 release is a ridiculous notion, even if only for the west.

Edit below: so five months ago? Yeah. That's not what I'd call recent or anything to base speculation on.

DarkLordMalik3857d ago (Edited 3857d ago )

For their sake, i hope they release it soon and i personally can't wait that long.

As for the Luminous Engine part, i distinctly remember it being mentioned in one of the interviews with either Shinji Hashimoto or Nomura after E3.

Back during FF XIII, they were developing Crystal Tools and FF XIII simultaneously hence the prolonged development cycle for that game.

Edit: Just curious, when do you expect it to release? Next year? Can you give an expected date?

DragonKnight3856d ago

@DarkLordMalik: Crystal Tools was just a re-tooled White Engine made to be multiplatform. The reason the development was prolonged was the deal Microsoft made with SE, not the engine development. The PS3 version was complete one month after the E3 announcement that FFXIII would go multi, but MS paid SE to keep the PS3 version unreleased until the Xbox 360 version was complete for a simultaneous global release. Microsoft was the reason for the prolonged development, not an engine.

maniacmayhem3856d ago (Edited 3856d ago )

"MS paid SE to keep the PS3 version unreleased until the Xbox 360 version was complete for a simultaneous global release. Microsoft was the reason for the prolonged development, not an engine."

Whoa, do you have any proof of this claim Dragon? And from credible sources not speculation or opinions from a journalist.

Development was delayed because FF 13 was originally a PS2 title and the whole production was scrapped and moved to Sony's next gen console when PS3 was announced.

N4GDgAPc3856d ago

If there doing the same thing as FFvs13 it was going to be a world wide release. I'm still hoping they do the same thing for FF15.

3857d ago
gameseveryday3857d ago

ye sure, a game that gets heavily shown off at E3, a western expo, will be released in 2016. Ye sure.

MajorAly3857d ago

Versus XIII was also showed at E3 2006. Where did it end up? Skipped a whole generation.

gameseveryday3857d ago

That is one weird comparison. Your article is about release date not 'release date delay'. Besides that this article is making assumptions on weird facts.

MajorAly3857d ago

Does the article say anywhere that it is confirmed?

The speculation is based on the install base of the consoles, Japan is seeing the launch of PS4 and Xbox One later than NA and EU release.

FF titles have always landed in Japan first. And with the data collected, FF titles have landed on a good install base.

Square Enix COULD change their strategies but based on what is known so far, this speculation was based upon the previous history.

DragonKnight3856d ago

The speculation is ridiculous. Never has a Final Fantasy Western release been dependent on Japanese sales figures. Ironic to mention history when it's completely ignored in the most basic sense.

MajorAly3856d ago

@DragonKnight

FF has always been released first in Japan. The games released were on on good install base.

For example:

FF7:
JP January 31, 1997
NA September 7, 1997

Hence that is what is being said in that sense. What is being said is that the consoles which saw the FF release had a good install base of over 4 million.

DragonKnight3856d ago

And that's meaningless. The fact that they were always released first in Japan is because that's how all Japanese games are released. The fact that they were later released in the West had nothing to do with Japanese sales, at least for FF. Name one main FF game on consoles that didn't release in the West due to Japanese sales. The answer is none, because Japanese sales have nothing to do with it at all and never have.

Irishguy953856d ago

No one seems to know this, the trailer at sony's Ps4 conference was NOT in game. It was a target render. The gameplay trailer shown after was in game. The reason the showed the leviathan battle with a target render is because the in game version is not even lose to that, Nomura said that's what he imagines the battle will be like.

I was initially confused as to why the two 'gamaeplay' trailers featured such different effects on Noctis abilities, then I found out that one of them wasn't gameplay at all. Nomura came out and stated this almost immediately but the media skipped over it for some reason. FFXV is not nearly as far along in development as the reveal trailer led to believe.

DragonKnight3856d ago

I'm sure you have proof of this to link to. Otherwise you're asking people to take your word for it, and no one will.

EXVirtual3857d ago

Please. The game will be out by 2015 latest.

Show all comments (105)
370°

Square Enix Declares $140m Loss Amid Game Pipeline Shakeup

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix has declared a $140m loss based on a shakeup of its internal development pipeline.

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techraptor.net
Furesis11d ago

What are they doing over there? Sounds like they canceled something big. I read a rumor a while back about ff9 remake . Here "Final Fantasy IX has gone through a very challenging development, the game is still in progress but may undergo changes drastic enough that we won't hear about it for a couple of years."
This could be one of the reasons if the rumor is true. That was Silknight i don't know how credible he is but it's something and it would make sense.

-Foxtrot11d ago

I hope IX is still on the cards

Just a straight up remake which they expand a little bit nothing over ambitious

If IX dosent happen then VI and VIII will never be thought of.

Kakashi Hatake11d ago

6 and 8 were way more p popular games despite today's cult following of 9.

blackbeld10d ago

I want my FF8 remake! Can't believe they cancelled it.

TiredGamer11d ago

What are they doing? Sales are falling and the costs are out of control. Big releases need to be absolute sales home runs now, and Final Fantasy sales have stagnated.

Now we know why Square didn’t fall over themselves to remake the original FF7 all these years ago. It certainly wasn’t a license to print money, at least not with what the expectations were. Each of these full on remakes drains an enormous amount of company resources for a razor thin profit margin.

TwoPicklesGood11d ago

Breaking the game up into multiple parts was a mistake IMO.

blackblades11d ago

The loses came from cancelling games nothing else.

Tapani10d ago

They lost the magic in the remakes. And the story is incomplete. The original FF7 is still way better. The Remake / Rebirth are just fan service. Like an Anime/Manga with "optional" filler content. FF7 had pretty much zero filler, it was paced extremely well, and still today flows much better than the grindy story and spongey enemy battles in the remakes.

babadivad10d ago

If they released it at once on all platforms, they would have made all of their money back. Could have been on to an FF8 or 9 remake. Ready to cash in again on nostalgia like Capcom. This is their fault for trying to milk the title.

Once I head they were breaking it up into parts, I lost all interest.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 10d ago
neutralgamer199210d ago

I hope people understand usually when a loss is declared it means a game which had been in development got cancelled. For example Sony Santa Monica before GOW-PS4 had cancelled a project which Sony had spent 7 figures on

As far as square is concerned they release a bad game once a year. Forspoken anyone?

For those making comments on remake not selling well, I hope y’all realize that Sony is the only reason this remake is happening. If Sony didn’t fund it the remake wouldn’t be happening. Just like Konami didn’t want to remake SH2 because development costs of 100 plus million

shadowT11d ago

Do not miss Final Fantasy 16. Great game!

raWfodog11d ago

I'm waiting for them to release the complete edition bundle, but it's definitely on my list.

PhillyDonJawn11d ago

Wth is going on with the gaming industry?

mandf11d ago

Corporate investors taking everything

TiredGamer11d ago

Not rocket science. Compare sales numbers, development cycles, and budgets to the previous gens. We are all collectively burning up the industry from the inside out. Expectations are ludicrously high now for every release and sales are dropping for even the most prestigious of series.

We used to be satisfied paying $50-60 for a game that took 1/100th the budget and staff to make. Now gamers feel cheated if they have to pay the same for a game that took 100x the budget. We may be reaching the end of the line for this model of gaming.

wiz719111d ago

@tiredgamer I think your point is one that ppl don’t understand and you hit it on the nose .. some gamers don’t want to take accountability but it’s some of the gamers fault the industry is where it’s at .. we as gamers set the standards for the industry not the shareholders , ppl forget that the shareholders and the industry want and need OUR Money. Both the Xbox and PlayStation are seeing a drop in hardware , the industry is very stagnant right now.

Tacoboto11d ago

Speaking to Square:

Turns out their mismanagement wasn't related to the western studios they dumped to Embracer, but their own fault.

With regards to Xbox - a good way to kill your brand is to pull support on high quality titles and only dump B and C-tier titles to it

With regards to PC - Epic Games Story exclusivity for any duration and piss-poor optimization will hurt you.

With regards to FF Pixel Remasters - y'all messed up by barely releasing them on physical, like wtf that was free money!

And lastly, you don't help a franchise by releasing a mainline title that undermines every title that came before it. FFXVI was a DMC-like with bottom-of-the-barrel side quests and I can't imagine that helping Rebirth at all considering its marketing is directly tied to how big that game is.

Tacoboto11d ago

Sony is getting their best titles and with the most polish, so what about it? Nintendo gets their top properties too, for titles that can run on Switch hardware.

It's the other fanbases that get the second- and third-class treatment from Square. If that's due to agreements with Sony, that's not a Sony issue but a Square one for accepting those terms. Sony is doing its best to look out for Sony.

wesnytsfs10d ago

sales and stupid practices like exclusives.

TiredGamer11d ago

The industry implosion is continuing. Sky high budgets, prolonged development windows, stagnant sales numbers, and falling currency values (inflation) are wreaking havoc on the legacy industry. AAA games will slowly become the rarity.

CS711d ago

Sad. Rebirth was one of my favorite games in a long time. Should have sold more.

CrimsonWing6911d ago

Oh I’m with you. What’s worse is they can say, “Well we tried to make this amazing game and spend all this money on, but not enough people showed an interest. So no more of these since we can’t take a hit like that.”

The industry is going to take a dramatic shift. Mark my words on this.

rpvenom11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

I think there is quite a large portion of individuals like myself who held out on buying it on PS5 because I can get it on PC eventually. To be able to mod the game and also have custom graphical settings to my liking

gold_drake11d ago

same

but im not sure if it matters at all. im sure they made sony pay a hefty sum for the 3parter to come on ps5 exclusively. so watever they made in sales, might have come bk in profits for square, but i dont know
and we dont know what "underperformed" even means for square.

Show all comments (43)
130°

Square & Bandai Namco Being Honest About Quality Is A Step In The Right Direction

Saad from eXputer: "After suffering from massive financial hits, Square Enix & Bandai Namco appear to be turning over a new leaf but I'm still unconvinced."

Nerdmaster12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

I was talking about games with some Japanese guys here in Japan, and it seems like around here Bandai Namco has a fame of making low-quality games, with the occasional gem.

About Square Enix, I believe they lack the capacity to improve. They should learn with Capcom (although even Capcom still makes some bad mistakes), but I don't think they ever will. They keep chasing whatever is new at the time (blockchain, AI...) to say "we innovate", without considering the public perception and if these things actually improve the games or not. Them releasing too many small games with no advertising also shows a lack of trust in its own products. Even with their biggest games, like turning FF into an action game with XVI and the very divisive plot changes regarding whispers and timelines in VII Remake, shows them trying to attract a new generation of gamers without understanding what made the series so big in the first place.

shinoff218312d ago

I want a true ff7 remake. With thatcsaid I'm way happier with 7 remake then I was with ff16. I'd still prefer turn based but square keep chasing these Lil kids

Snookies1212d ago

Man, it is perfectly fine to prefer turn based. Turn based is amazing. But there's zero reason to call anyone who likes action games "lil kids". Liking one gameplay system over another does not make you more mature in any way.

VersusDMC12d ago

People love the new FF's overall...the problem is the abundance of 7's they release that lose money or make very little like diofield, star ocean divine force, Valkyrie asylum, harvestella, foam stars, etc. Advertising wouldn't have saved those games. Apparently Forespoken had a big Advertising budget but we saw how that went.

shinoff218312d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Star ocean divine force actually sold well from what I've read not ff type numbers but well enough. Was a dope game to.

FinalFantasyFanatic12d ago

Bandai Namco is going to Bandai Namco, I do believe that Square Enix can't change without changing the entire management, they've had these issues for more than a decade and haven't learnt, I have very little faith they can course correct. I'll still buy their better remasters/remakes like Star Ocean 2 though (not FF7R).

Asterphoenix12d ago

Namco is just milking the same Sword Art Online with lack of budget as well as anime IPs that don't go to decent developers like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. Namco deserves their losses and no future Dot Hack or Xenosaga remaster :(.

Square allocated lot of their budget on Forspoken was a mistake. Square always had management issues. Star Ocean 2 was a great remake and I found their recent entries of FF(16 and Rebirth) better than 13 and 15.
I think they were better than 360/PS3 generation where Square went really downhill.

CrimsonWing6912d ago

I don’t know why NOW they decide on this, but I guess later is better than never.

80°

I’m Glad Atlus & SE Changed Dates To Avoid Competing With Shadow Of The Erdtree

Saad from eXputer: "I'm glad I don't have to choose between Square Enix, Atlus, and FromSoftware due to bad release windows and Shadow of the Erdtree."

H918d ago

More intelligent than guerilla games

raWfodog17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Atlus is releasing their game one week before Erdtree, SE is releasing theirs one week after.

HZD released four days before Zelda, HFW released one week before Elden Ring.

It seems to me like they are still releasing their games too close to Erdtree.

VincentVanBro16d ago (Edited 16d ago )

What a word vomit, rambling, turd of an article that simply states the obvious. Classic exputer.