In an interview with Famitsu, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada discussed the showing of the company’s newest technology, Luminous Studios. They decided to build the new engine to strike a balance between a unique engine for each game, and an engine that is used over a broad spectrum of games. Because of the nature of role playing games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix has had to build each game from the ground up. They set out for a middle ground with Luminous that will work for multiple games while still retaining the ability to cater to each game’s specific needs.
During the interview, Yoichi Wada mentioned that Agni’s Philosophy (the new tech demo showcasing Luminous) is meant to show that the engine is capable of running a game like Final Fantasy on next gen consoles. The project is aimed at Direct X 11 capable systems.
Eventually Wada was asked a question about future Final Fantasy games and new IPs (new games), in which his response was promising: he plans to have his studios work on new IPs in the future, and that some risks need to be taken, especially if Japanese games are to make an impression on the world outside of Japan.
In case you missed the new tech demo, Agni’s Philosophy:
The original interview can be found here, and Andriasang’s report on the translation here.
