The Final Fantasy Series is now regarded as one of the biggest video game franchises behind Mario, Pokémon and The Sims. The franchise first started off with Final Fantasy (I) and since then the Series has never looked back spanning from 1987 to the present. In that time over 30 different Final Fantasy games have been produced from Square Enix’s think-tank headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo Japan.

Square Enix getting stronger

With just over 20 years of producing Final Fantasy games it’s questionable if Square Enix will ever stop the continuation of the franchise.

With no periodically numbered main sequels, the variability of the game series has allowed the franchise to grow rapidly under the Final Fantasy name with small references laid to previous games.
Unlike other games one character can only last so long. Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has had his last fight as a playable character in MGS4 in the Metal Gear Solid Series. Final Fantasy doesn’t have this problem because all its games are completely different stories with different characters. This again is another benefit due to its differing environments/stories, which appeal to different people with different periodically numbered main sequels.

Square Enix has arguably been the masters of developing new titles to appeal to the latest generation. With themes such as Environmental destruction and terrorism reflected in their games, reality is able to relate to the characters and events in the specific Final Fantasy game. As long as Square Enix continues to make their games as mentioned, they should have no reason to stop continuation of the franchise. It’s why the games keep selling.

What can break the franchise?

A decrease in previous Final Fantasy sales would cause Square Enix to think twice about developing a new title. Rather than making a low budget Final Fantasy, Square Enix may believe it could damage the reputation of the Series and the titles before; therefore hanging up their gloves might just be the right idea.

The current global economic crisis should bear no major effect on Square Enix as other smaller companies struggle and potentially go into administration. The threat of being swallowed up can therefore be shrugged aside in Square Enix’s opinion due to their vast size.

Final Fantasy fans and journalists alike have already heard of rumoured tension in the company between Yoshinori Kitase/Tetsuya Nomura and company president Yoichi Wada. The most likely way the franchise could therefore break is if the development teams relationships behind the Series break down effecting the production of future Final Fantasy/Square Enix games.

Seeing as the above threats are quite unlikely, the conclusion fans should be getting is that the Final Fantasy Series is still going strong and will be for a few decades yet. Don’t hold your breath either because I have a feeling the franchise hasn’t peaked.

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