I wish you all a happy new year 2023!
At last ! It is only in six months that we will be able to discover the next episode of the series, Final Fantasy XVI, seven after the last numbered title. It’s an understatement to say that Square Enix’s forces will be focusing heavily on this game between now and June, and we can only hope the hype won’t be too much of a pain: so far, the overpowered communication is a whiff of fresh air compared to the launch year of FFXV. While waiting for the hurricane, let’s gorge ourselves on this brand new illustration (probably by Kazuya Takahashi), published today by the team of FFXVI to welcome the launch year:
As tradition dictates, the various producers of Square Enix presented their wishes to the players, in particular on the portal site of Final Fantasy. It includes messages from Yoshinori Kitase (more details below), Naoki Yoshida, Ichirô Hazama (producer of Theatrhythm Final Bar Linewhich comes out on February 13, let’s not forget!) and Kei Hirono (producer of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius).
Le mot de Yoshinori Kitase
We know him first and foremost as the producer of the remake project of FFVIIbut the man who has been responsible for the brand for almost two years Final Fantasy obviously has a thought for FFXVIurging fans to support Naoki Yoshida as he and his team are in the final stretch before the release.
Then, after indicating that new information about FFVII Rebirth will arrive “in due time” (no kidding), Kitase ends with arguably the juiciest part of these New Year’s messages: “There’s also another big announcement, unrelated to FFVII, which I can’t tell you about yet. You can count on us to make 2023 our most exciting year yet. “Would the persistent rumors of a remake of the ninth episode be true? We hope to know more very soon!
Illustration : Rokuma Saitô (FFXIV)
Final Fantasy XIV
If 2023 will be the year of FFXVINaoki Yoshida does not fail to recall in his new year message on the official website of FFXIV that it will also be the tenth anniversary of the launch ofA Realm Reborn, the spectacular resurrection of the MMORPG. After the conclusion in Endwalker, a new adventure is beginning before our eyes, and the producer and director offers us as usual an enigmatic little poem, supposed to lay the foundations of the story to come. Without a doubt, we will have the chance to explore the hitherto unknown lands of Ætherys little by little! If we still don’t know when we will start hearing about the next expansion, a new stone will be laid on January 10, with the arrival of update 6.3.
Final Fantasy XI
It’s a little surprise that awaits the regulars of the eleventh episode: this year, wishes are written not by producer Akihiko Matsui, as has been the case until now, but by director Yôji Fujito – in preparation for the “change of generation”, as he himself indicates. While recalling the events of this year 2022 which marked the twentieth anniversary of FFXIit promises various updates in 2023, but also and above all the conclusion of the “The Voracious Resurgence” scenario, launched in 2020. The little machine is therefore running quietly, and in a world that is changing so quickly, it is ultimately quite comforting .
A word from the CEO
Finally, what would a new year be without the traditional litany of blockchain and NFT from Square Enix CEO Yôsuke Matsuda? He has been promising us for several years now that this will be the future of his estate (see last year), and we must admit that things are moving slowly – probably too slowly for him. But we can’t forget that his message from last year was greeted with immense hostility on social networks, where resistance to NFTs is extremely strong (but Matsuda is probably aimed much more at his investors…).
Thus he reaffirms that his company is working on several games using the technology blockchain (he specifies that these are original brands, so probably not the already well-established licenses), being careful not to specify that one of the first of them, Symbiogenesiswas welcomed with a mixture of contempt and consternation. It must be said that many players were deceived by the rather irrational hope of a return of Parasite Eve…
Matsuda cannot avoid mentioning the difficulties encountered by the virtual asset sector in recent months, however, but insists on seeing it as a simple bumpy road towards better state regulations in order to make these new practices better controlled, and accepted by the general public. Is there only a reasonable use (i.e. detached from any highly volatile market speculation) of the blockchain in the video game? It’s up to him to prove it, but one thing is certain: the players will not be easily convinced.
On a less depressing subject, Matsuda also addresses the question of the restructuring of Square Enix, which accompanies the sale of its Western development teams (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal – studio defunct soon to be renamed…). Entitled “One Square Enix”, its new strategic objective is to create better synergy between the Japanese parent company and the remaining international portions of the group, with the formation of a global organization specifically dedicated to the publishing of games and content. The outcome will no doubt be transparent to many of us. As it stands, we can just wish the publisher would continue to bring us good games…