project setsuna 3Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda revealed more information about their upcoming role-playing game Project Setsuna to Famitsu. One such detail is probably somewhat evident to anyone who knows Japanese. The theme of the game is “sadness,” the literal namesake of the project.

If all goes well, Project Setsuna will have a short development period and will be released in 2016. Nothing beyond the first title has been planned. Instead, Square Enix is taking a wait and see approach.

Matsuda reveals Square Enix’s current philosophy on new IP becoming franchise. “While it’s important to foster new IP,” Matsuda says, “it’s difficult to turn them into a big IP. Looking at the game industry right now many games take the form of a trilogy. In that sense, we won’t know until we make at least three titles (within that IP) whether or not it will continue to grow.”

Project Setsuna was revealed during this year’s E3 at Square Enix’s press conference. It was revealed in conjunction with news of their new studio Tokyo RPG Factory, the game’s developer. No platforms have been announced yet. The only time frame we have for the game is 2016.

Karli Winata
Karli Winata is an avid gamer with a taste for a little bit of everything. Except for sports games. And racing sims. And definitely not hidden object games! I guess everything is too broad a term. Suffice it to say that he has been known to play hours of Call of Duty multiplayer in between bouts of Persona fusing and Star Coin collecting while saving the world/galaxy through sensibly bald space marines or plucky teenagers with impossible hairstyles. Where does he find the time to write about them?