Final Fantasy Versus XIII – Cancelled or Not?

Recently there have been a lot of rumors swirling around the net concerning the development status of Square-Enix’s highly anticipated action RPG, Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The rumor started at Kotaku, with them being told by their source that development of the title had been cancelled so as to focus on the next numerical FF title, Final Fantasy XV.

The rumor suggests that Square-Enix planned to let the game just slowly fade into even further obscurity until people forget, rather than make a statement about it, as this could go badly with shareholders.

Shortly after this hit, the net went ablaze with rumors stating that the game either is or isn’t cancelled. This even followed shortly after with a rumor that development had began on Final Fantasy XIII-3, although this is likely unrelated and highly possible as a sequel has been hinted at in the past.

The thing to bear in mind in these sorts of situations is that ALL rumors should be taken with a pinch of salt. There is also evidence pointing toward a reveal later this year, most likely at Tokyo Game Show, but quite possibly at Square Enix’s own 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy in September.

Earlier this year Famitsu grabbed Tetsuya Nomura to ask about the game and when we would see a reveal for it, to which Nomura responded:

“We’re almost done with preparing the latest info for the game, Because of a totally unrelated reason, there are circumstances in which that info cannot be released.”

Nomura was also caught by GameInformer later in the year where he was again questioned on the status of the game. His response was:

 “We would like to ask for your patience on an official announcement for this title. It always takes time when tackling the challenge of doing something completely new, but we are doing our best to bring information to the fans as quickly as we can. Your patience is greatly appreciated.”

So although we never actually get anything particularly concrete from Nomura, his comments have always continued to allude toward the fact that the game is indeed in development and is on it’s way to a reveal. But the comments also leave a feeling that things have been out of his hands for a while too.

Personally with so much evidence for either side I will reserve judgement until after the two events that the game is most likely to resurface at, while reserving hope that a game that has been little more than a concept for almost an entire generation eventually comes to fruition.