Final Fantasy XV Will Have Multiple Follow-Ups, Possibly Released as Episodic Content

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Lee Bradley

Final Fantasy XV will spawn multiple follow ups, possibly in the form of episodic releases.

That’s according to Director Tetsuya Nomura, who has been discussing the development and the future of the game formerly known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

“In the [FFXV] trailer, there was a line that read ‘A World of the Versus Epic,’ which suggests that it will be part of an epic. While Final Fantasy XV will have one climax, as a story, we plan to continue it further,” Nomura told Famitsu (translated by Siliconera).

It’s how the developer intends to deliver the rest of this story that is most interesting, however, as Nomura hints at the possibility of episodic, digital releases.

“As for as how it will be released, we’ll announce that later on; however, having you wait a long while for a next title isn’t something we would desire… Also, we’ve been exploring online compatibilities ever since the shift towards the next-generation hardware was decided.”

Nomura continued, “There are many possibilities. To develop a big title for next-gen consoles, the development costs and time increases significantly, along with its entire scale. When it comes to offline games, even titles that have been in development for years can easily be played out in a short period of time. 

“In order to increase the span of play time, I believe that online features are definitely required. Also, in order to keep the story and anticipation going, I believe that such features are needed, so we’re currently exploring possibilities.”

Of course, Nomura could be referring to some kind of multiplayer content, but we’d rather speculate that he’s considering going the episodic route. After all, Square Enix won’t want to step on the toes of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, its PS3 and PC MMO.

Beyond this, the FF director also apologised to the fans for the long wait for FFXV, which has been in development in different forms for many years.

“I deeply apologize for having you wait for so long,” he said. ‘I hope that our latest announcement has been able to meet all of your expectations.

“From this point on, the quality will only be getting better. There are many of you who feel that Japanese developers have fallen behind those from the West in the current generation. I believe that this title will show you otherwise for the next generation.”

Final Fantasy XV was announced at E3 2013 earlier this week. It's coming to PlayStation 4. Watch the announcement trailer here. The battle trailer is below.

Comments
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  • i hope the game is still open world with plenty of exploration and a world map.
  • It also takes place in the same universal time line as Final Fantasy XIII and Type 0. Fun Fact this will be the 2nd numbered Final Fantasy to connect to another. Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII are the first to connect to each other.
  • XV-2 and Noctis Returns when? @2: There are a great many theoried connections between games, and that is certainly the most solidly explained. However, Cecil's Deathbringer sword in IV was previously owned by Leon in II, as detailed in the Japanese scenario guide for IV.
  • Blah, blah, blah, blah.
  • So XIV is VS. XIII? I had lost hope on it ever being released.
  • @5 XV is Vs XIII XIV is the mmo
  • do square actually know how to not fuck things up anymore? i mean seriously they are about to see a ps2 hd remake outsell any current gen final fantasy titles they have made, they have also received the worst reviews they have ever had across all their ff13 games and now they bring this news that shits all over the amazing video they showed off. OMG i just cant comprehend how idiotic this company is im so beyond having faith in a return to the good days of final fantasy im pretty upset
  • One of these days I'd just really sink my teeth into a meaty non-loot RPG like the old FFs, BoFs, Suikodens (4 and 5 doesn't exist), etc. Is there really such a lack of interest for those or are the dev/pubs just oblivious? Can't fucking wait for Rainbow Skies...
  • They brought us the awesome trailer and gameplay clips of Final Fantasy XV that made us forget all about the horrors of the FFXIII games, and then they drop this bomb on us...just when we had regained some faith in the brand. -_-
  • Square Enix You most F*****G with me, after more then 7 years waiting in hell you will make another parts just like FF13, FF13-2 and FF13-3? meaning you will make us waiting more years afters years? if about moneys take it take all. Final Fantasy you hurt me so bad.....
  • Greedy bastards.
  • I think what they mean by "online" is COOP mode... 3 players in battle together. That would be awesome. Much like the game I am playing right now, LOTR: War In The North. Now that would be a Final Fantasy first! And in no way is it in conflict with FF XIV: A realm Reborn which is MMO...
  • So "Versus" is finally out and a lot still don't seem happy about it? I thought the evolution of Final Fantasy is epic! If not, it would have the same feel of Call of Duty - same old shit every year. I personally thought they did a great job on this one... and yes I have played FF since its first release on Nintendo. Only versions I didn't get to finish is FFIX and FFX-2... didn't get to play FFX at all - blame it on work. FF XIII/XIII-2 were brilliant IMO, and I'm sure LR will be a blast as well. FFXV even better... Can't be all THAT BAD you know...
  • People are too harsh... I liked FFXIII/2. The quests and item collecting were there, the graphics were great. If you battled the bosses/quest bosses there was strategy in the gameplay. With so many games to play I don't need to be spending 500hrs to max my characters for epeen status like the games of old anyway.
  • Yeah I thought the FF XIII "franchise" was "baked just right"...
  • I loved the combat system in FFXII on PS2, I wish they could make a multiplayer version of that game, I played the hell out of FFXI online on PS2, 360 and PC, so I might possibly be picking up XIV on PS3 in August if word on the street is positive. XIII was garbage, enough so that it made me not even pick up XIII-2 even though it's super cheap now. Boring story, playable characters, enemies, need I go on? The "quests" only open up till the very end of the game. I agree with whoever said the HD remake of X will outsell current gen FF games. It's a sad day indeed.
  • @16 yeahh FFXII battle system was awesome! and the exploration wowww!
  • I am a FF n00b, mostly because I'm 15 and only now I started to be really interested in JRPGs. As so, I've only played FF13 and didn't even finish it because I had borrowed it from a friend and then he wanted back, blah, blah... But the gameplay video they showed seemed pretty f*cking awesome!! Honestly, I can't wait for this!
  • @16, 17: Totally agree. No waiting for a mini "cutscene" everytime you enter a damn battle. I really hope it's an open world game. Would be nice to have the same the same thrill to explore as I had in FFXII. Really hoping for a release for FFXII on the PS3/PS4, doesn't matter really matter wich. I never had the pleasure of playing FFX nor FFX-2, so I am really excited to lay my hands on the remake when it gets out!
  • @7 If FFX HD remastered sells over 7mil copies I'll give you 5 bucks. The reviews where at average a B for the games. The worst reviewed Final Fantasies I'm pretty sure is the first version of FFXIV and All the Bravest. The sequels weren't necessary but I still enjoyed them. If you negative nancies didn't then that's cool too. I may disagree with your opinion but I will fight for your right to have it. Unless of course you're not an American or one of our allies :p.
  • @20 B isn't good for a franchise like final fantasy that has had so many stellar incarnations, 13 was shit but everyone and myself included praised that square tried something new that didn't work......but then they haven't done anything since that's remotely worthy of the final fantasy title. Yes I'm fairly sure final fantasy 10 hd will sell 7 million copies and as bold as my statement is it will collectively outsell each games shipping units with ease....and should it get a review I'm fairly sure it will also get a minimum of 9/10 $5 is barely worth chaining into £ but I appreciate you offer ;)......oh I don't count ff11 or 14 as they are mmo games and not in the same breadth, 14 on pc also highlights my point on how fucking stupid squeenix are
  • If its going to have episodic content, just please, PLEASE, make sure the core game is an experience that leaves me content. I want a full story that leaves me satisfied when it comes to an RPG, THEN you can tackle sidestories or elaborating on certain characters, regions or events. On top of that, please make sure the gameplay is great and makes me want to keep coming back. With Nomura in charge, I have a lot of faith in this... but it better not end up being like FFXIII's trilogy where Square-Enix just kept having you come back for seconds and thirds at a crap buffet. XIII was fun for a little while, but bad overall... making sequels to mediocre games is really Motomu Toriyama's M.O., though, it seems. He did it with FFX, as well.
  • If anything, I just want the fucking ability to overpower my characters whenever I damn choose. That you had to unlock the Crysanthemum-shit (or whatever it was called) by playing the story was garbage.
  • @2 I think it would be better to have XV in it's own universe now that it is no longer versus XIII. It seems to have a LOT of potential to not only make Final Fantasy games more appealing to gamers (hint: NO turn-based crap) but to possibly make Square Enix relevant again. If they decide to go down the road of DLC (and story DLC, which is the best kind of DLC in my books), it had best give me hours of playtime. I'd be willing to spend another $15 on a story-based DLC if it was really worth it. If the game is good, and the DLC is worth it (like ACII and AC: Brotherhood), it's worth the extra cost. However, even if the game is good (AC: Revelations), if the DLC is stupid, pass. Or if the game didn't really impress you too much (ACIII), then why bother with DLC even if it's well-received?
  • @21 Alright then I'll take your word and let's see if FFX really does sell 10mil+ copies. Agreed on at least they're trying something new. FF will be boring as hell if it was always turn based, it'll turn to something of the likes of CoD fast. Let the Square Enix team try and fail. At least they're trying new things,eh? The merging was a kind of fail but the alternative was bankruptcy....
  • As long as they make the turn-based strategic enough (a la the beginning of FFX) it will be awesome.
  • I'm still baffled anyone was ever excited about Versus XIII, it looked like another failure like XIII was. Bring back the old character designs, world architecture and stores. Stop with this j-pop pretty-boy bullshit. It's horrible. I know it would be a horrible game just by character design alone.
  • @27 This is rumored to be open world with shops/npcs/airships galore. Judging a game that is still in heavy development a failure after all of 2 trailers because you don't like the way the the characters look is very shallow and close minded on your part but hey to each their own I guess. You do know that this is a FF title by Tetsuya Nomura right? I don't know..I think the designs are pretty muted for him and is finally showing some restraint. I really really liked this trailer. It is amazing how the first video comes full circle as actual gameplay on PS4. Love it. I also want to add my 2 cents on this moving to a multiplatform release. I am a little upset about that really..I know I shouldt be because it is good for sales/exposure blah blah bah..but this game has been in development for almost a decade and is one of the main reasons I bought a PS3. I hope the decision to go multi does not impact the quality of the finished product. Changing the name to 15 does not make it ok to just change the exclusive status after many years of fans patiently waiting and being assured time and time again that Versus will be Playstation ONLY. Baah..whatever..at this point I am just glad that it still is on track and will be released sometime before I become incontinent and senile.
  • "Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII are the first to connect to each other. " I may have missed this but when/how 10 and 7 connected? Also i secretly want 10 HD to sell well so they will realise that people want a more traditional jrpg. But i doubt it's going to seel extremely well. I for one, will be getting it. Also ALSO, FFXII (12)'s battle system was inspired or brought about MMORPG such as FFXI. If you want that kinda battle system, just get FF14 when it re-releases. I've played the beta and I'm not generally into MMO's but twas pretty good, HECK i got guild wars 2 (highly rated MMORPG) and didn't play much into it. But I may or may not get it because of the subscription. I don't play games often/don't have the time so if i'm paying for a sub, i'm going to try and get my money's worth which is detrimental to my health and studies.
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