Nihon Falcom, mostly referred to as just Falcom, has announced in their financial report that they will be releasing a fair amount of titles in 2021. This will be part of their 40th Anniversary celebration, which officially falls on March 31, and will also be adding a brand new entry in their fabled JRPG franchise, Trails. In addition, the company is also planning on expanding it’s gaming content to numerous platforms, including the North American market, making some of their IP’s more readily available in the process.
Also mentioned in the financial report was the ongoing situation regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic and how it would affect further development. According to the report, the pandemic has not affected the progress of the new titles, including the new Trails game, which is a great sign all things considered. However, as we’ve already seen this year, some studios have had to dramatically cut back on costs and development, despite planning on releasing their IPs in 2020. Hopefully, Falcom can continue to work on their upcoming titles and deliver them in a timely manner, but we wouldn’t be surprised if a small delay does occur.
For those unfamiliar, Falcom is one of the most prominent Japanese developers and has been developing video games even longer than Squaresoft, which is what they were before they merged with Enix to become Square Enix. Falcom’s first big series was Dragon Slayer, which eventually morphed into the JRPG franchise The Legend of the Heroes. This would result in another spin-off series that went on to be even more popular and would go on to define the studio to this day, the aforementioned Trails. Trails would become even more expansive, splitting into three separate storylines, and in 2019 the company celebrated the franchise’s 15th anniversary, a testament to its staying power throughout the years. The latest entry, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, launched earlier this year for the PlayStation 4 with a Nintendo Switch and PC port coming in 2021.