News

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, a mobile game that reimagines the timeline of Final Fantasy VII and its Compilation, has been pushed back to 2023 with a closed beta test period happening next summer.

The game was originally planned to have a beta this year; as December approached, fans were getting worried that the game might have been dropped due to the lack of news. It's good to see the game is still in production.

An updated trailer came along with news of the delay. Here it is:
Source: Square Enix Games, Final Fantasy YouTube

My Twitter feed exploded with this news on Monday: The ESRB ratings for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters were updated to list both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, leading to speculation that the titles would soon be released on those platforms.

We've had no official word from Square Enix that I can find, and today the ESRB ratings have been reverted to their original status of PC only.

Given the level of excitement over this leak, let's hope the news turns out to be true.

Source: GameRant

Sony's latest State of Play just ended, and the final showing was a new trailer for Final Fantasy XVI! Here it is:



The PlayStation Blog was also updated to include more information about the game, including the reveal of the main team working on the game:

Producer: Naoki Yoshida
Main Director: Hiroshi Takai
Creative Director & Original Screenplay: Kazutoyo Maehiro
Localization Director: Michael-Christopher Koji Fox
Art Director: Hiroshi Minagawa
Combat Director: Ryota Suzuki
Character Design: Kazuya Takahashi
Composer: Masayoshi Soken

Immediately after the State of Play ended, KupoCon (the Final Fantasy fan convention) announced a launch tour will be happening for the game. More details will come later, but the tour will be held in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, with a virtual option for those who cannot attend in person.

Source: PlayStation YouTube Channel, PlayStation Blog, KupoCon Official Site

Square Enix is due to sell studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group for an estimated $300 million USD. The deal still needs regulatory approval, but once given, should be finalized sometime between July and September of this year.

This sale will mean Square Enix will no longer own the properties of Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain, along with a back-catalogue of more than 50 games. Crystal Dynamics is already working on a new Tomb Raider game.

Square Enix has said that this deal was made so they could invest in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.

In unrelated news, Square Enix registered several new trademarks recently. These trademarks include Fear Effect and Relic Strike. The former was a game released by Eidos in 2000 for the original PlayStation, so there is speculation the series is about to be revived.

Other recent trademarks filed include Valkyrie Profile and Lenneth, which might indicate those games are to make their way to PS Plus Premium subscription.

Source: The Verge, PCMag, MP1ST

Distant Worlds has just announced a new concert series for the 35th Anniversary of Final Fantasy. Entitled FINAL FANTASY 35th Anniversary Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY Coral, this series will feature a track list specially curated by Nobuo Uematsu. Little else is known at this stage, including what "Coral" represents, and so far no special guests have been announced. The dates for the series are as follows:

• Tokyo, Japan: 06 Aug 2022
• Tokyo, Japan: 07 Aug 2022
• Hyogo, Japan: 13 Aug 2022
• Hyogo, Japan: 14 Aug 2022
• Chicago, IL: 10 Sep 2022
• Pittsburgh, PA: 20 Sep 2022
• Los Angeles, CA: 24 Sep 2022
• London, UK: 01 Oct 2022
• London, UK: 02 Oct 2022
• Fort Worth, TX: 12 Nov 2022
• Boston, MA: 19 Nov 2022
• Bangkok, Thailand: 17 Dec 2022
• Bangkok, Thailand: 18 Dec 2022
• New York, NY: 07 Jan 2023
• New York, NY: 08 Jan 2023
• Nashville, TN: 25 Jan 2023
• Barcelona, Spain: 03 Feb 2023
• Paris, France: 25 Feb 2023
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 03 Mar 2023
• Orlando, FL: 10 Mar 2023
• Orlando, FL: 11 Mar 2023

Source: Distant Worlds Official Site

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker continues to rack up the awards, taking three awards at SXSW this weekend.

The first award was for Excellence in Narrative: awarded to the game with the best storyline and dialogue. The other nominees in that category were:

• Deathloop — Arkane Lyon / Bethesda Softworks
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits — Ember Lab
• Lost in Random — Zoink Games / Electronic Arts
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy — Eidos-Montréal / Square Enix

The second award was for Excellence in Original Score. It was Masayoshi Soken's celebratory tweet that alerted this reporter the awards were happening this weekend! Other nominees in this category were:

• The Artful Escape — Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits — Ember Lab
• The Medium — Bloober Team
• Wytchwood — Alientrap Games / Whitethorn Games

The final award was for Video Game of the Year. SXSW's description for this award states: awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and creates a distinct gaming experience across all platforms and genres. Other nominees in this category were:

• It Takes Two — Hazelight / Electronic Arts
• Psychonauts 2 — Double Fine Productions / Xbox Game Studios
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart — Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Resident Evil Village — Capcom

Congratulations to the Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker team for the well-deserved awards! For those readers who may be interested in starting their own journeys in Eorzea: the Final Fantasy XIV Free Trial is now active again and lets you play through all of A Realm Reborn and its first expansion, Heavensward.

Source: SXSW Official Site