Square Enix has hinted that it will be releasing major new games in the not too distant future. In a report on their strategy for the next financial year, the publisher wrote that one of its initiatives was the ‘launch of large scale online titles developed by western studios starting from the fiscal year ending 3/2015’. That means that at least one of these titles will be released before March of next year.
So what could these games be? If we are looking for Western developers who can make large scale online titles for Square Enix, the obvious place to start is with Edios. A fully owned subsidiary, Edios has been responsible for most of the publishers great Western content over the past few years. We know that the developer is currently working on Hitman 6, which will definitely be included in this category, but what about Edios’ other announced project, the next Deus Ex game. Human Revolution was single player only, so could the sequel really count as a large scale online title? Could this be a hint that the franchise is going to have some sort of multiplayer in the future?
Of course this category won’t only include already announced games , but also unannounced ones. The recent Tomb Raider reboot had online functionality and sold quite well . A sequel to the game therefore seems quite likely. Then there is the much rumoured Just Cause 3. Whilst Just Cause 2 was originally single player only, an official mod released last December added an online multiplayer mode. Just Cause 3 will likely have that mode included in the initial package.
Square Enix is hopeful that these major new titles will help them continue to grow and perform well. Over the past year the company made a profit of $65 million which it attributed the favourable sales of Thief, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was conspicuously absent from this list.
Via Eurogamer