‘Final Fantasy XII’ Remake Revealed? Composer Unofficially Unveils Development
Conductor Arnie Roth dropped the mic on Saturday evening during the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert in Pittsburgh when he announced Final Fantasy XII is getting a remake. The revelation came just after noting the remake of Final Fantasy VII and before welcoming Final Fantasy XII composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, who was a special guest attending the event. Although the Final Fantasy VII remake was unveiled at E3 2015 with due pomp and circumstance, no official announcements regarding Final Fantasy XII have been made to date.
As can be seen and heard in a video clip provided by Final Fantasy Network of the unofficial announcement, Roth appeared to be reading from note cards as he interacted with the crowd by delivering a roundup of otherwise confirmed, upcoming Final Fantasy titles.
“And there is a Final Fantasy XII remake underway, too, that’s coming out soon.”
After delivering that one line, he made a similar remark regarding Final Fantasy XV before welcoming special guest Hitoshi Sakimoto. Final Fantasy Network followed up the video clip to report on Twitter that neither Roth, nor Sakimoto, were open to comment further on Final Fantasy XII at the post-concert VIP meet and greet event.
From an anonymous tip, Arnie Roth & Hitoshi Sakimoto upon being asked at the meet & greet said "they really couldn’t discuss FFXII” […]
— FFNetwork (@finalfantasynet) August 2, 2015
Final Fantasy XII originally appeared on the PlayStation 2 but is not currently available to play on new generation consoles. A remake or high-definition remastered edition would certainly not be outside of the realm of possibility considering Square Enix recently released a remastered edition of Final Fantasy X and X-2 for the PlayStation 4. Originally released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster sold over one million copies worldwide according to VGChartz.
With solid sales numbers like those, it is no secret bringing the Final Fantasy catalog to new generation consoles and PC would be in Square Enix’s best interest. As reported by Siliconera in December, 2014, Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto discussed some of the reasons why remastered editions are crucial to their global content strategy plans, particularly for the PlayStation 4 console.
“Actually, not limited to just X/X-2, we’re currently thinking of setting [a way] to have other past Final Fantasy titles playable on the PS4. Most of our Final Fantasy assets go up until the PS3, while most of the world has rapidly been shifting towards the PS4.
“And in China’s case, they’re practically starting with the PlayStation 4 as their main console. For this reason, we’re keeping in mind the sense of crisis of not being able to play these masterpiece titles.
“However, this does not mean that we can simply transfer [these titles] to PS4, so as content holders, we must prepare a way to steadily have them available to play on PS4.”
Is an updated Final Fantasy XII coming soon? Will it be a remake or a remaster? Or perhaps both? After all, an HD remaster of Final Fantasy XII bundled with a new-gen remake of the Nintendo DS exclusive Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings could be pretty sweet. With Gamescom 2015 right around the corner, fans just might get some answers soon.
[Images courtesy Square Enix]
