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Final Fantasy Brand Manager Shinji Hashimoto hints at big things for the series next year

Dale Roll Dec 1, 2017
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Could one of the biggest game franchises of all time be getting a makeover?

In a recent video by YouTubers EDAMAME Arcade Channel, hosts Kabukin and Tom Lee got an exclusive interview with Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Brand Manager Shinji Hashimoto. Chiefly they discussed the rising popularity of the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game and the first ever World Championship Tournament currently being held in Tokyo, but while there is great information in the bulk of the video about FFTCG, the real exciting stuff about Final Fantasy in general can be heard at the end.

When asked, “Not strictly speaking FFTCG, what’s next for Final Fantasy?”, Mr. Hashimoto responds that, following this year as the 30th anniversary of the Final Fantasy brand, they’ve got multiple teams working on new titles, and 2018 is going to be a “big year”.

Of course, this answer is sufficiently vague enough to not actually be a satisfying answer, but that’s the standard for this kind of interview. It might still be enough to get fans excited for what could be on the way, though. Even the hosts looked at each other like kids who had just entered the biggest candy store in the world!

The cherry on top, however, was next: when asked to deliver a message to the fans of Final Fantasy, Mr. Hashimoto thanked the fans for 30 years of support, and then hinted that something new could be in store for them.

Even though this is probably a blanket statement to boost appeal for the brand, and although the cynical among us will tell us it doesn’t mean anything, we can still get our hopes up. After all, there have been many exciting and unusual things that happened this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the franchise:

The brand teamed up with JR East to hold an event called Final Fantasy YL (which looks completely legitimate, even though it’s just shortening “Yamanote Line”), where you can get exclusive digital goods for participating.
For two days in June there was an intense Final Fantasy XIV projection mapping show on the Intercontinental Yokohama Grand building.
Minato Mirai Station in Yokohama played Final Fantasy music instead of their usual “doors are closing” jingle.
Tokyo Tower turned into the Crystal Tower in April.

▼ The projection mapping show in Yokohama

Plus, they’ve already announced some cool stuff coming up in 2018 too, like The Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exhibition ~~Tales of Farewell~~ and a Final Fantasy Virtual Reality Ride at Universal Studios Japan. But what about games?

Some YouTube commenters suggested that a new game for the Nintendo Switch may be in the works, while another wondered if they’re going to announce the next installment of the series, Final Fantasy XVI. We already know that a FFVII remake is on the way, although it was announced two years ago and it still doesn’t have an official release date. If it’s anything like FFXV, we might be waiting a while.

What’s most curious is that Mr. Hashimoto said that “something new” is coming in 2018. What could that mean for the series? A total overhaul of the game system? A completely different genre of game? Japanese fans also speculated what could be next, but few could think of anything that wasn’t a remake of some sort:

“Will it be going back to its roots and have a more medieval feel? That might be fine for Japan but I don’t think it would go over well overseas…”
“Since last time it was a host company of handsome guys this time it will be a cabaret company of lovely ladies.”
“Must be a Switch revival of FFCC. It has to be since Square Enix is putting all of their resources into the Switch right now.”
“Probably another smartphone game.”
“I think it’s a FFI remake.”

Whether Mr. Hashimoto is hinting at the FFVII remake, a Switch game, or something else totally new, or, even if he’s just building hype for announcements for 2019, we can rest assured that fans will wait loyally, though perhaps impatiently, and their enthusiasm will not be quelled. After all, they waited 10 years for FFXV, and people still stood in line in the freezing cold to buy it.

Source: My Game News Flash
Featured Image: YouTube/Edamame Arcade Channel
Insert Images: YouTube/Edamame Arcade Channel, YouTube/Final Fantasy XIV, YouTube/PlayStation