We’re only a couple of days away from the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XVI. The latest entry in the long running JRPG franchise, Final Fantasy XVI is set to launch on June 22 exclusively for the PlayStation 5, and Square Enix is ensuring that everyone is getting ready to play it. However, at least one member of the company, Square Enix Vice President Yoshinori Kitase, is already thinking about the future of the series. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Kitase stated that he expects newer ideas for Final Fantasy to come from the up and coming generation of developers. He then added in that he’d be open to a “Final Fantasy game in the style of Call of Duty.”
It’s important to note that Schreier did not quote Kitase directly on that specific line but he did mention the other franchise in a similar context when possibly going into that direction. “Call of Duty is “using all this modern weaponry, but when you think about it, it’s this small group of people going around saving the world—that’s very Final Fantasy.” Schreier then adds that Kitase mentioned that all they would need is some crystals and it be perfect. Kitase, who has been working at Square Enix since 1990, has been a major part of nearly every Final Fantasy title and was one of the two directors of what many people still consider to be the best entry in the entire franchise; Final Fantasy VI.
As for coming up with those aforementioned ideas, Kitase says that his ideas only go so far and that the younger members of the company have much more potential to take the series in a brand-new direction. “My imagination really has its limits, so it’s really great to have a new generation of creators on board,” he said. Considering that the Final Fantasy franchise has already branched out into a plethora of other different types of genres’, Kitase’s take on the future isn’t all that farfetched. As far as seeing a new entry in the same vein as Call of Duty goes, it’s probably going to be a while before that happens.