Points that reveal Hiroyuki Ito (FFVI, FFIX, FFXII Director) is secretly working on FFXVI

[Galvanizer]

I'm posting this thread for those that want to see corroborated evidence that Hiroyuki Ito (FFVI, FFIX, FFXII, FFXII IZJS Director) is secretly working on FFXVI for release on PS4/One. If this becomes a reality, we won't be stuck with the FFXV trilogy by Tetsuya Nomura for the whole of current-gen, much like we were stuck with the FFXIII trilogy by Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama for the whole of last-gen.

Please be aware that this will be my first and only version of this thread. As of April 2014, I'll not be adding more evidence to the list of points. Why? I feel that I've garnered more than enough corroborated info that indicates that Ito is currently working on FFXVI. Adding more points would just be overkill. That said, if somebody else wants to keep adding to the list of points, feel free to do so.

All that said, read on for the points of evidence.

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November 2011

> Yoshinori Kitase (FFX, FFXIII Producer) said that we may get FFXV and FFXVI in the near future.

February 2012

> Hironobu Sakaguchi (Creator of FF series) told me face-to-face while he was in London to promote The Last Story, he believes Hiroyuki Ito can make FF a leading and respected RPG series again.

March 2012

> Shinichi Tatsuke (Producer within Square Enix Mobile Division), said that Hiroyuki Ito only provided the original concept for the iOS/Android game Guardian Cross, and was not a member of the actual development team.

July 2012

> Yoichi Wada (President of Square Enix) never debunked the rumor that Hiroyuki Ito was secretly directing FFXV, even though the rumor blew up on 2ch and various Japanese gaming blogs. However, two days later, he used Twitter to debunk the rumor that FF VersusXIII had been cancelled, which had shown up on 2ch earlier that day. Why didn't he debunk both rumors? There must have been some truth to the rumor about Ito.

August 2012

> Naoki Yoshida (FFXIV Producer/Director) said that Hiroyuki Ito was not working on FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. However, he wouldn't disclose what game Ito was working on.

> Naoki Yoshida said that FFXIV ARR is the starting point of regaining people's trust in the FF franchise. He added it will make people excited to see what will be in store for them in FFXV and FFXVI.

September 2012

> Hiroyuki Ito said that current-gen hardware (PS3/Xbox 360) was too weak to handle his gameplay ideas. The reason was due to him being held back by insufficient RAM and CPU power.

February 2013

> Naoki Yoshida said that back in December 2010, when he became Producer/Director of FFXV 1.0, many other staff were brought in from other projects. He added that Hiroshi Minagawa (Tactics Ogre PSP Director) is multi-tasking FFXIV ARR with another big project. Minagawa is not working on LR FFXIII or FFXV, so what other big project is he also working on? Bare in mind that Minagawa was the Director of FFXII alongside Hiroyuki Ito.

May 2013

> I asked Toshiyuki Itahana (FFIX Character Designer) via Twitter if Hiroyuki Ito will direct another mainline FF. He replied saying that he also respects Hiroyuki Ito as an amazing game creator, and that I should please look forward to Ito's next game.

> Nobuo Uematsu (Composer of FF series) told me face-to-face while he was in London for a Final Fantasy concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, he can guarantee that Hiroyuki Ito will direct another FF game. When I asked if Ito will direct either FFXV or FFXVI, he laughed and replied that his answer would get him in trouble with Square Enix.

June 2013

> FFXV was announced at E3 2013. Seeing as the game was originally announced as FF VersusXIII at E3 2006, which was 7 years ago, the game that was originally supposed to be FFXV therefore must have been renamed FFXVI and given more development time.

> Shinji Hashimoto (FF Brand Director) said during a Q&A after Square Enix's E3 2013 press conference, FFXV being an Action RPG will not alter the direction of the FF series. FFXV is a standalone title, with a real-time battle system being ideal for what it wants to achieve. He added that FFXVI could return to using something similar to the Active Time Battle (ATB) system.

July 2013

> Shinji Hashimoto said that Hiroyuki ito has been planning and proposing ideas for a new project. He added that Ito is putting a lot of depth into the gameplay systems and mechanics. As a result, development of this project would take some time.

September 2013

> Shinji Hashimoto told me face-to-face while he was in London for the European launch of KH I.5 HD ReMIX, the reason Hiroyuki Ito hasn't worked on any current-gen (PS3/360) FF games is because he's been busy planning his own project. When I asked when his project will be announced, he replied saying that Ito's adding a lot of depth to the gameplay systems and mechanics. As a result, the announcement of this project will take some time.

> I asked Yasumi Matsuno (FFT, Vagrant Story Director) via Twitter if he would write the scenario for FFXVI as a freelancer if Hiroyuki Ito was the director. He replied saying he unfortunately had "certain reservations" about answering the question. In other words, the answer to the question was in NDA territory.

> Yasumi Matsuno announced that he was working on two new games with Playdek. However, he said he will not be directing either of them. The reason is because he's also got other projects going for other companies, some of which have assigned a large amount of work for him to do.

October 2013

> Motomu Toriyama (FFX, FFXIII Director) told me face-to-face while he was in London for a community Q&A event for Lightning Returns: FFXIII, he would find it very unusual if Hiroyuki Ito never worked on another mainline FF game.

November 2013

> The website http://www.agnisphilosophy.com was updated. The update added an employment page that listed various vacant positions on the Luminous Studio team. It also included a page with comments by the current Luminous Studio staff. These comments included hints that another FF besides FFXV is already in production using the engine.

January 2014

> I asked Hideo Minaba (FFVI, FFIX, FFXII Art Director) via his website e-mail if he would do the art direction for FFXVI as a freelancer if Hiroyuki Ito was the director. He replied saying he really enjoyed working with Ito in the past and would gladly work with him again in future.

February 2014

> Naoki Yoshida said that he's certain there will be a FFXV and FFXVI in the near future, and therefore he will constantly try to bring in fresh, new material for FFXIV ARR. That way, it won't get ignored and forgotten by gamers when the newer mainline FF games release.

> Yoshinori Kitase said that the technical specs of PS4/One will allow battles in FFXVI to have many more participants involved; there will be more characters for the player to control and more enemies to defeat. He added that the Gambit system, which Hiroyuki Ito created in FFXII, may return and be used to help the player control all the party members available.

> Yoshinori Kitase told me face-to-face while he was in London for the European launch of LR FFXIII, the reason Hiroyuki Ito has not worked on the FFXIII trilogy, FFXIV ARR, and the forthcoming FFXV, is because he has his own development team at Square Enix and is busy leading his own big project.

> Yoshinori Kitase confirmed the FFXII team, which is headed by Hiroyuki Ito, is still intact within Square Enix. Seeing as this team hasn't released a AAA game since FFXII International Zodiac Job System in 2007, it's safe to assume they're secretly developing FFXVI for PS4/One.

> Yoshinori Kitase stated the FFXIII team have begun planning for a new project. He also hinted that the platform of this project could be Smartphones and Tablets. He added that the team already devoted a decade to making the FFXIII trilogy for consoles, and during those 10 years, viable platforms like iOS and Android have appeared, which they now want to develop games for. Kitase also said that FFXVI will not be for Smartphones or Tablets. The reason is because Square Enix always expects mainline FF games to be very high-end, top quality products, as it's the flagship global IP of the company. Therefore, seeing as Kitase has already said his next game will likely be for Smartphones and Tablets, it's very unlikely to be FFXVI.

> Hiroyuki Ito did his first public interview since FFXII IZJS released in 2007. The interview was about his thoughts on the PS4 hardware, which was launching in Japan the following day. Ito said that the aspect of the PS4 he's mostly interested in is how it can connect to the PS Vita and provide a second screen for the player. He said the HDTV screen acts like a football stadium and is what everyone in the audience can see, while the PS Vita screen is seen only by the coach and is the means by which he gives orders to his team.

March 2014

> Naoki Yoshida confirmed that Hiroyuki Ito was also a member of the FF Committee. He added that the purpose of the committee is to ensure that the FF series stays on track and that each important FF director knows what the others are doing.

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The End

Thanks for reading and I hope you found the above points informative.