Final Fantasy 16 has finally been released, but what word is there of Final Fantasy 17? What does Square Enix have in store for the future of its flagship series, especially as the company has grown so big, has so many franchises under its belt (like Dragon Quest), and is facing more and more pressure to produce games with high production values?
The time between new releases for the mainline Final Fantasy series has drastically increased. It’s strange to think that there was only a ten-year gap between FF1 and FF7, especially with how different they were, thanks to the developing hardware of the era. The time between new releases has grown longer over time, with seven years between FF15 and FF16 and six years between FF15 and the original version of FF14. This is due to increasing development times, as Final Fantasy games have always had cutting-edge graphics, and the new hardware requires more man-hours now than it did in the SNES or PS1 era.
Related: Final Fantasy 16 Complete Game Guide – Stats, Quests, Characters & Eikons
Will There Be A Final Fantasy 17?
Square Enix has yet to announce FF17, but it will almost certainly happen. Even if FF16 was a massive flop and didn’t recoup its costs, the Final Fantasy brand name is too strong to die. It’s more likely that the mainline series would be dormant while Square Enix reassessed its approach, but there’s no indication that FF16 has bombed. FF17 is guaranteed to happen, but it’s unclear how long it will take until it’s announced or released.
What’s more likely is that it’s going to take a long time before FF17 is released, regardless of how well FF16 performs. There is more to the Final Fantasy franchise than just the mainline games, as there is still the FF7 Remake trilogy, the ongoing saga of FF14, and the countless spin-offs and mobile games that are part of the series. Square Enix also has a lot of other games on its plate and limited resources for developing them, such as Kingdom Hearts 4, Dragon Quest 12, and all of the old games that are in the process of being remastered.
If FF17 is another triple-A production, the lengthy development time must also be factored in. If FF17 is in the early stages of production (which is likely), it will still take years to develop and finish the game. Considering the lengthening production times of the current mainline games, it’s feasible that fans will be waiting five or six years for the next Final Fantasy.
Related: Final Fantasy 16: How Long Does it Take to Beat Main Story & Completionist
The Final Fantasy games are standalone stories (barring the rare sequel game), so it’s unlikely that the next entry will involve Clive Rosfield of FF16 or any of the other series protagonists. FF17 will likely be its own entity, so there’s no need to be impatient about its release, especially as there are many other Final Fantasy spin-off titles to fill in the gaps.
