Rumor: Final Fantasy Versus XIII No More? [Update]

The long developed game may have been canned.

The seemingly never-ending saga of Final Fantasy Versus XIII continues!

Update: In a tweet earlier today, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Iwada denied the claims that FF Versus XIII has been cancelled.

"Someone has been spreading a false rumor that Versus has been canceled, it seems," says Wada in the tweet. "[Laughs.] Just now, we finished our regular Versus meeting. If you could see the city in today’s presentation it would sweep you off your feet."

So the rumors of Versus' untimely demise may be wildly exaggerated. It bears mentioning, however, that no one has seen this game in quite some time, and the last time a company asserted that a long-developed game was still in production was Starcraft: Ghost. (Original story appears below)

Square Enix had big plans for Final Fantasy XIII. The 2010 release was to be the first in the Fabula Nova Crystalis saga; a series of separate games that would explore different aspects of the Final Fantasy XIII lore. The most notable of these other games was the awkwardly named Final Fantasy Versus XIII. First announced way back in 2006, the game was known more for its impressive CG trailers and lengthy development time than anything else. Now we’ve learned that it’s entirely possible that those traits will be the only claim to fame the game has, as it seems as if Versus XIII is no more.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been making its way into the headlines again recently, mainly due to the fact that the game had been completely MIA from any events held by Square Enix or other industry showcases. A rumor before E3 led people to believe that the game was actually being rebranded as Final Fantasy XV, but this ended up being a hoax.

Or was it? Sources within Square Enix recently told Kotaku that Versus XIII has gotten the proverbial axe, and that this has occurred in the past few weeks. Some of those same sources claim that the game is being rolled into the fifteenth mainline Final Fantasy game, but it’s unclear if their meaning was that the game’s assets, story, and game mechanics would be the basis for FF XV, or if the staff was simply moving onto the team for that game.

Whatever the case, it seems as if Square Enix would rather let this project die quietly instead of making an official press release. The reasons for that are manifold, but the core reason would be the hit that the announcement could make for the company’s stock offerings. With Final Fantasy XIII not hitting the normal high review scores as the rest of the main series and XIV being a debacle since launch, another bit of bad news surrounding the franchise would be very detrimental to the company. Beyond that, announcing the cancellation of a greatly anticipated Final Fantasy game during Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 25^th Anniversary celebrations would not go over well.

We’re still waiting on some sort of official statement regarding the fate of this game, and we know that there’s at least some news on the horizon regarding the franchise. While the prevailing sentiment is that a third game in the Final Fantasy XIII series will be announced, at this point it could be anything.

#Versus xiii #Versus 13

Jon Lewis Staff Writer

07/21/2012 at 12:41 AM

I personally think this would be a dumb move on SE's part, just because a lot of people looked to this game to make up for FFXIII. I was interested and would much rather this than XIII-3 (or even XIII-2 for that matter) but w/e...can't win em all.

Julian Titus Senior Editor

07/21/2012 at 09:01 AM

Meh. The game looks like yet another case of Tetsuya Nomura run wild. It's basically Kingdom Hearts set in the real world with the Final Fantasy name slapped on it. As much as I want FF XV to come out this generation, I'm hoping that very little of this game is included moving forward. And really, if FF XV had no involvement from Nomura I'd be a happy camper. That's probably one of the main reasons I like XI and XII so much.

Jason Ross Senior Editor

07/21/2012 at 01:15 PM

I think the rumor is all pretty much fabricated. That seems to be my standard line about rumors, but it needs to be said.

In this case, I feel like someone at Kotaku wanted to force out some news from Square-Enix about the game, and so they came up with this claim. Maybe they heard rumblings that there was change in Versus XIII, and want to get impressions and/or hands on, or something like that.

The point is that I think the goal in this story isn't to actually reveal anything true, I don't think Versus XIII is cancelled, though I could see if it was renamed FFXV just for marketing purposes. Anyway, I think this is more a move to give SE a tough time from their investors to update progress on the long-developed game. It seems more like manipulation than speculation to me, especially since we're told very little in detail here.

In fact, the rumor essentially says nothing, aside from suggesting FF Versus-XIII won't keep that name. It's a popular idea, considering a hoax around E3 had much of the internet believing it already. Aside from that, they say the game could be continued entirely, could be gutted for resources for another game, or could be cancelled entirely. What kind of a rumor is that? Literally, they just suggested the conditions in which any game could be. Let me give you a rumor about Smash Bros. for the Wii U: It's either been cancelled, still being developed, or being gutted for resources. Nintendo hasn't shown off anything about the game because one of those things are happening with it.

See how generic that is?

07/21/2012 at 01:48 PM

Very constructive, Jason. No, really. I'm not being sarcastic at all.

Oh, wait...yes I am.

07/21/2012 at 03:12 PM

Sarcastic or not, things like this happen. While this isn't a move I saw by a games journalist, I've read an article before written by someone involved in the stock market. Essentially, it said that traders with high followings and/or media positions could potentially manipulate a stock price a little bit on the short term by spreading a rumor about a company that officially "...does not comment on rumors and speculation."

A negative rumor could be spread to make the stock price drop artificially before the person with influence purchased the stock, whereas a positive rumor could be spread right before a sale. These rumors wouldn't carry water on the stock's price in the long-term, but a movement of a few pennies up or down can result in tons of extra money, depending on the bulk of the purchase/sale.

Hence, when a rumor like this pops up, particularly one that has so many generic and already speculated outcomes, I'm skeptical. In this case, I don't imagine the rumor would be spread to profit on the stock market, but rather, I think some editor at Kotaku is trying to flex his/her publishing muscle to get exclusive information.

Joaquim Mira Media Manager

07/21/2012 at 01:57 PM

The title of the game is going to change to Chrono Trigger 2.

PixlBit