http://www.ripten.com/2013/03/20/final-fantasy-versus-xiii-may-be-making-a-jump-to-the-next-gen/
Today must be national rumor day, and I’ve got another one for you.
According to VG Leaks, the long-awaited Final Fantasy Versus XIII may be making the jump to the next generation. In a brief post, the site claims that Final Fantasy Versus XIII is getting a name change (allegedly, Final Fantasy XV) and a new exclusive home on Sony‘s PS4.
The rumor suggests that Sony is helping Square Enix develop the title, necessitating its exclusivity on the company’s next-generation console. It isn’t forthright about exactly when Sony and Square began working together, but, apparently, it was in the middle of this process that the game’s name was changed to Final Fantasy XV.
If this rumor turns out to be true, it could be pretty big news (not as big as Versus to the Sega Master System though). Having a hugely anticipated (and, let’s face it, long assumed cancelled) Final Fantasy title slated exclusively for the PlayStation 4 is going to be enough to move consoles. The idea that Sony and Square are working together on this one also suggests that this might not be the only exclusive Final Fantasy title we see in the next generation. When Final Fantasy XIII was initially revealed for the Xbox 360, gamers were shocked about the fact that it was no longer an exclusive. I’m sure Sony would like to have such a big name squarely (get it?) in their camp again.
Once again, I would like to stress that this is a rumor, so grab a glass of water and down that salt. VG Leaks gives no indication as to why they’re suggesting this is the case. One possible explanation for the name change portion of this rumor, is an article that went up on Kotaku on Tuesday: apparently, a fashion label that was creating a line of clothing based off of Final Fantasy Versus XIII mislabeled their line as being based off of Final Fantasy XV. Supposedly, the mistake has been there for over a year, but since it’s only recently been pointed out, it’s quite possible that this discrepancy is where the Final Fantasy XV title originated from.
However, it is also worth mentioning that at last month’s PlayStation Meeting, alongside the reveal of the PlayStation 4, Shinji Hashimoto, the Final Fantasy brand director, did say that Square was developing a Final Fantasy title for the upcoming console, and asked the audience to get excited for E3. It is possible that the renaming and relocating of Final Fantasy Versus XIII is the announcement that he was hinting at.
We’ve reached out to Square for comment, and will update if we receive any new information. Barring that, I suppose we’ll just have to wait until June.
Update: Square-Enix got back to us, however a “no comment” was all we received. On the plus side, they didn’t refute the rumor all together, and considering another leak regarding Microsoft’s Durango, also originating from the site VG Leaks, has already been backed by an Edge-Online unnamed source, this rumor just may prove to have some truth to it after all.
