I said I've left this forum due to becoming tired of the FFXV fanboys that have overrun the place. That's still true, as I'm only briefly returning to post this thread. I'm also aware a lot of shit has happened since I left with innocent people being accused of being my alts, just because they bring up Ito possibly making FFXVI. Accusations like that are nothing new to me because they happened often when I frequented GameFAQs. All I can do is apologise to the individuals that were treated unfairly because they were seen my alts. Anyway, as I've said, I'm only here on a drive by drop off with this thread. It contains my latest update on Ito directing FFXVI speculation.
If you have no interest in this update or my views in general, please exit the thread now rather than replying with irrelevant BS and derailing it. Thank you in advance.
Moving on.
As with Ver 1.0 of this thread, my target audience is the FF fan who is unenthusiastic about FFXV and hoping that Hiroyuki Ito (FFVI, FFIX, FFXII Director) will direct FFXVI for release this gen (PS4/Xbox One/PC). This thread aims to show that, rather than ito directing FFXVI being blind hope fueled by wishing thinking, there's actually corroborated evidence out there that supports the belief and makes it not at all far fetched. That being said, please bare in mind this is not 100% confirmation that Hiroyuki Ito is secretly making FFXVI. We'll only know that for sure when Square Enix officially come out and announce the game.
For those who don't know Hiroyuki Ito and his past contributions to the FF series, the FF Wiki has a great article on him: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Hiroyuki_Ito
With all that said, the corroborated points of evidence are provided below in chronological order. I've added various new points throughout the article, so even if you have read Ver 1.0, it's still worth reading the whole thing again to find the new new points scattered throughout the article.
--------------------------------------------------
October 2010
1. Hiroshi Minagawa (FFXII Director, FFXIV ARR UI Director) was interviewed by Eurogamer.net about Tactics Ogre PSP. He said that he chose to make the PSP game, as he'd just finished making FFXII, so wanted to make something smaller scale. For his next project, he'd like to direct another AAA game for home consoles. Considering he directed FFXII with Hiroyuki Ito, his next AAA game would likely have them again co-directing.
Source:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-18-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together-hands-on?page=2
--------------------------------------------------
November 2011
2. Yoshinori Kitase (FFX, FFXIII Producer) said we may get FFXV and FFXVI in the near future. This was said before FFXIII-2 was even released, meaning before LR FFXIII had started development. Therefore, FFXVI was already being made by another team before Kitase/Toriyama had even finished the Lightning Saga.
Source:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-16-final-fantasy-13-2-preview
--------------------------------------------------
February 2012
3. Hironobu Sakaguchi (Creator of FF) told me face-to-face while he was in London at BAFTA to promote The Last Story, he believes Hiroyuki Ito can make FF a leading and respected RPG series again.
Source: This information was said to me in person.
--------------------------------------------------
March 2012
4. Shinichi Tatsuke (Producer within Square Enix Business Division 9), said that Hiroyuki Ito only provided the original concept for the iOS/Android game Guardian Cross, meaning Ito was not a member of the actual development team. If Ito wasn't part of the development team, what game has he been working on hands-on for all these years? After all, his last hands-on project was released back in 2007.
Source:
http://app.famitsu.com/20120329_47667/
--------------------------------------------------
July 2012
5. Yoichi Wada (President of Square Enix) never debunked the rumor that Hiroyuki Ito was secretly directing FFXV and it would evolve off FFXII and have an Open World that would surpass Skyrim in both world scale and volume of content. Even though the rumor blew up on 2ch and various Japanese gaming blogs, Wada never debunked it. However, two days later, he used Twitter to publicly debunk the rumor that FF VersusXIII had been cancelled, which was a rumor that had shown up on 2ch earlier that same day; he debunked the rumor within a few hours of it appearing online. Why didn't he also debunk the rumor about Ito? There must have been some truth to it.
Source: Two sources.
1) The 2ch thread with the rumor of Ito directing FFXV (Thread posted on July 21 and active until July 30):
http://anago.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1342860369/
2) Wada's tweet debunking the rumor that VersusXIII had been cancelled (Tweeted on July 23):
https://twitter.com/statuses/227628674780909568
--------------------------------------------------
August 2012
6. Naoki Yoshida (FFXIV Producer/Director) said that Hiroyuki Ito was not working on FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. However, he wouldn't disclose what game Ito was working on. The fact that disclosing information about what Ito is under NDA must indicate he is working on a very important game for the company.
Source: https://twitter.com/statuses/238359219076734977
7. Naoki Yoshida said that FFXIV ARR is the starting point of regaining people's trust in the FF franchise. He added it will make people excited to see what will be in store for them in FFXV and FFXVI. The fact he actually said "FFXV or FFXVI" must mean that both FFXV and FFXVI are currently in development and will release not that far apart from each other.
Source:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...tasy-will-take-a-long-time-ff14-producer-says
--------------------------------------------------
September 2012
8. In a Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary interview by Gamereactor, Yoshinori Kitase said that there's a chance that another mainline FF will return to the Medieval style of FFIX and FFXIV ARR.
Source:
http://www.gamereactor.eu/articles/46791/Final Fantasy: Anniversary Interview/
--------------------------------------------------
October 2012
9. Hiroyuki Ito said that current-gen hardware (PS3/Xbox 360) was too weak to handle his gameplay ideas. The reason was due to him being held back by insufficient RAM and CPU power. However, he added that hardware was getting closer to where he can do exactly what he wants to do. Considering that Square Enix already had PS4 and Xbox One development kits at the time of this interview, but both console weren't yet publicly announced by Sony and Microsoft, Ito was likely alluding to forthcoming next-gen console hardware.
Source:
http://www.1up.com/features/final-fantasy-hiroyuki-ito-science
--------------------------------------------------
February 2013
10. Naoki Yoshida said that back in December 2010, when he became Producer/Director of FFXV 1.0, many other staff were brought in from other projects. He mentioned Hiroshi Minagawa (FFXII, Tactics Ogre PSP Director) as an example of somebody who was brought over to FFXIV ARR and multitasking it with another big project. That being the case, Minagawa was not working on LR FFXIII or FFXV before he joined FFXIV ARR, so what other big project is he multitasking with FFXIV ARR? Bare in mind that Minagawa directed FFXII alongside Hiroyuki Ito. Also, if you revisit point 1 in this thread, you'll see Minagawa was already planning to direct a AAA game before he joined FFXIV ARR.
Source: Skip to 4:37 on the timer.
--------------------------------------------------
May 2013
11. I asked Toshiyuki Itahana (FFIX, FFCC, FF Mobius Character Designer) via Twitter if Hiroyuki Ito will direct another mainline FF, as FFIX and FFXII are my favorites in the series. He replied saying that he also respects Ito as an amazing game creator, and that I should please look forward to Ito's next game. Basically, Itahana was indirectly saying that Ito's got another mainline FF in the pipeline and I should look forward to when it's announced.
Source: https://twitter.com/itabee/status/331777078380883969
12. Nobuo Uematsu (Composer of FF series) told me face-to-face while he was in London for the Final Symphony concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, he can guarantee that Hiroyuki Ito will direct another FF game. When I probed further and asked if Ito will direct either FFXV or FFXVI, he laughed and replied that his answer would get him in trouble with Square Enix.
Source: This information was said to me in person.
If you have no interest in this update or my views in general, please exit the thread now rather than replying with irrelevant BS and derailing it. Thank you in advance.
Moving on.
As with Ver 1.0 of this thread, my target audience is the FF fan who is unenthusiastic about FFXV and hoping that Hiroyuki Ito (FFVI, FFIX, FFXII Director) will direct FFXVI for release this gen (PS4/Xbox One/PC). This thread aims to show that, rather than ito directing FFXVI being blind hope fueled by wishing thinking, there's actually corroborated evidence out there that supports the belief and makes it not at all far fetched. That being said, please bare in mind this is not 100% confirmation that Hiroyuki Ito is secretly making FFXVI. We'll only know that for sure when Square Enix officially come out and announce the game.
For those who don't know Hiroyuki Ito and his past contributions to the FF series, the FF Wiki has a great article on him: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Hiroyuki_Ito
With all that said, the corroborated points of evidence are provided below in chronological order. I've added various new points throughout the article, so even if you have read Ver 1.0, it's still worth reading the whole thing again to find the new new points scattered throughout the article.
--------------------------------------------------
October 2010
1. Hiroshi Minagawa (FFXII Director, FFXIV ARR UI Director) was interviewed by Eurogamer.net about Tactics Ogre PSP. He said that he chose to make the PSP game, as he'd just finished making FFXII, so wanted to make something smaller scale. For his next project, he'd like to direct another AAA game for home consoles. Considering he directed FFXII with Hiroyuki Ito, his next AAA game would likely have them again co-directing.
Source:
So can we expect Square Enix to embark on similar projects in the future? "If I have a chance, I'd like to remake Vagrant Story and other games," says Minagawa.
"But when I chose to remake Tactics Ogre it was after FFXII, which was a big project. I wanted to do something on a much smaller scale, and a smaller team, which is why I chose to do this. Probably after this, I'll do something bigger, like an original game. After that, I'll probably change my mind and return to something smaller."
Final Fantasy XV next, then? "I'm not saying anything," laughs Minagawa. Oh well.
"But when I chose to remake Tactics Ogre it was after FFXII, which was a big project. I wanted to do something on a much smaller scale, and a smaller team, which is why I chose to do this. Probably after this, I'll do something bigger, like an original game. After that, I'll probably change my mind and return to something smaller."
Final Fantasy XV next, then? "I'm not saying anything," laughs Minagawa. Oh well.
--------------------------------------------------
November 2011
2. Yoshinori Kitase (FFX, FFXIII Producer) said we may get FFXV and FFXVI in the near future. This was said before FFXIII-2 was even released, meaning before LR FFXIII had started development. Therefore, FFXVI was already being made by another team before Kitase/Toriyama had even finished the Lightning Saga.
Source:
"If we look at the entire history of the franchise - now we have 14, and maybe 15 and 16 in the near future - there have been Final Fantasy titles that have been extremely popular and some that people liked less.
"But the beauty of the franchise is that we establish a new universe and new concepts every time with the numbered titles. Even if any particular game turns out to be a flop, the next one we can start afresh, we can reset and move on. It's going to be okay."
"But the beauty of the franchise is that we establish a new universe and new concepts every time with the numbered titles. Even if any particular game turns out to be a flop, the next one we can start afresh, we can reset and move on. It's going to be okay."
--------------------------------------------------
February 2012
3. Hironobu Sakaguchi (Creator of FF) told me face-to-face while he was in London at BAFTA to promote The Last Story, he believes Hiroyuki Ito can make FF a leading and respected RPG series again.
Source: This information was said to me in person.
--------------------------------------------------
March 2012
4. Shinichi Tatsuke (Producer within Square Enix Business Division 9), said that Hiroyuki Ito only provided the original concept for the iOS/Android game Guardian Cross, meaning Ito was not a member of the actual development team. If Ito wasn't part of the development team, what game has he been working on hands-on for all these years? After all, his last hands-on project was released back in 2007.
Source:
プロデューサー・田付氏からのメッセージ
ソー シャルゲームのシンプルなところにファミコンゲームの面影を感じ、『ファイナルファンタジー』をファミコンから制作してきた伊藤が、ソーシャルの原案 を考えたらおもしろいのではないかと思ったのが制作のきっかけでした。最初は別のゲームのバトルを依頼したのですが、一週間後に「残念ながらバトルはでき なかったけど、新しい企画が1本できちゃった」と言われ、「それで十分です!」ということに(笑)。新しい遊びをたくさん入れているので、ソーシャルゲー ムに飽きてきたという方にぜひプレイしてほしいです。
ソー シャルゲームのシンプルなところにファミコンゲームの面影を感じ、『ファイナルファンタジー』をファミコンから制作してきた伊藤が、ソーシャルの原案 を考えたらおもしろいのではないかと思ったのが制作のきっかけでした。最初は別のゲームのバトルを依頼したのですが、一週間後に「残念ながらバトルはでき なかったけど、新しい企画が1本できちゃった」と言われ、「それで十分です!」ということに(笑)。新しい遊びをたくさん入れているので、ソーシャルゲー ムに飽きてきたという方にぜひプレイしてほしいです。
--------------------------------------------------
July 2012
5. Yoichi Wada (President of Square Enix) never debunked the rumor that Hiroyuki Ito was secretly directing FFXV and it would evolve off FFXII and have an Open World that would surpass Skyrim in both world scale and volume of content. Even though the rumor blew up on 2ch and various Japanese gaming blogs, Wada never debunked it. However, two days later, he used Twitter to publicly debunk the rumor that FF VersusXIII had been cancelled, which was a rumor that had shown up on 2ch earlier that same day; he debunked the rumor within a few hours of it appearing online. Why didn't he also debunk the rumor about Ito? There must have been some truth to it.
Source: Two sources.
1) The 2ch thread with the rumor of Ito directing FFXV (Thread posted on July 21 and active until July 30):
http://anago.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1342860369/
2) Wada's tweet debunking the rumor that VersusXIII had been cancelled (Tweeted on July 23):
https://twitter.com/statuses/227628674780909568
--------------------------------------------------
August 2012
6. Naoki Yoshida (FFXIV Producer/Director) said that Hiroyuki Ito was not working on FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. However, he wouldn't disclose what game Ito was working on. The fact that disclosing information about what Ito is under NDA must indicate he is working on a very important game for the company.
Source: https://twitter.com/statuses/238359219076734977
7. Naoki Yoshida said that FFXIV ARR is the starting point of regaining people's trust in the FF franchise. He added it will make people excited to see what will be in store for them in FFXV and FFXVI. The fact he actually said "FFXV or FFXVI" must mean that both FFXV and FFXVI are currently in development and will release not that far apart from each other.
Source:
"Losing your fans' trust is very easy thing to do. Regaining it is very hard," Yoshida said. "We believe Final Fantasy 14 is a starting point, and that players joining us will think 'oh wow, this is great, I'll see what they can do with Final Fantasy 15 or 16'.
"Over a long time we'll try and regain their trust, but it is something we as a company must put effort into, long-term."
"That doesn't mean we're not going to try to get people's trust back with this one game," he added.
"Over a long time we'll try and regain their trust, but it is something we as a company must put effort into, long-term."
"That doesn't mean we're not going to try to get people's trust back with this one game," he added.
--------------------------------------------------
September 2012
8. In a Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary interview by Gamereactor, Yoshinori Kitase said that there's a chance that another mainline FF will return to the Medieval style of FFIX and FFXIV ARR.
Source:
Will we ever see the return of true fantasy, black mages, castles, old airships and so on in a main Final Fantasy game?
Yoshinori Kitase: The atmosphere and world for each new FF title is built up along the themes that the creators want to push when the first plans are made. As seen with FF9 and what we are currently doing on FF14, there is always a chance of going with the classic, traditional fantasy style.
Yoshinori Kitase: The atmosphere and world for each new FF title is built up along the themes that the creators want to push when the first plans are made. As seen with FF9 and what we are currently doing on FF14, there is always a chance of going with the classic, traditional fantasy style.
--------------------------------------------------
October 2012
9. Hiroyuki Ito said that current-gen hardware (PS3/Xbox 360) was too weak to handle his gameplay ideas. The reason was due to him being held back by insufficient RAM and CPU power. However, he added that hardware was getting closer to where he can do exactly what he wants to do. Considering that Square Enix already had PS4 and Xbox One development kits at the time of this interview, but both console weren't yet publicly announced by Sony and Microsoft, Ito was likely alluding to forthcoming next-gen console hardware.
Source:
"First of all, I feel like the "optimal" ATB has yet to come. I think it's the advance of hardware, and stuff like memory within that... I always had to be concerned about things like that initially, when I started doing this kind of thing. It's getting closer and closer to the optimum level where I can do exactly what I want to. It's getting there, but we're not actually there yet."
--------------------------------------------------
February 2013
10. Naoki Yoshida said that back in December 2010, when he became Producer/Director of FFXV 1.0, many other staff were brought in from other projects. He mentioned Hiroshi Minagawa (FFXII, Tactics Ogre PSP Director) as an example of somebody who was brought over to FFXIV ARR and multitasking it with another big project. That being the case, Minagawa was not working on LR FFXIII or FFXV before he joined FFXIV ARR, so what other big project is he multitasking with FFXIV ARR? Bare in mind that Minagawa directed FFXII alongside Hiroyuki Ito. Also, if you revisit point 1 in this thread, you'll see Minagawa was already planning to direct a AAA game before he joined FFXIV ARR.
Source: Skip to 4:37 on the timer.
--------------------------------------------------
May 2013
11. I asked Toshiyuki Itahana (FFIX, FFCC, FF Mobius Character Designer) via Twitter if Hiroyuki Ito will direct another mainline FF, as FFIX and FFXII are my favorites in the series. He replied saying that he also respects Ito as an amazing game creator, and that I should please look forward to Ito's next game. Basically, Itahana was indirectly saying that Ito's got another mainline FF in the pipeline and I should look forward to when it's announced.
Source: https://twitter.com/itabee/status/331777078380883969
12. Nobuo Uematsu (Composer of FF series) told me face-to-face while he was in London for the Final Symphony concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, he can guarantee that Hiroyuki Ito will direct another FF game. When I probed further and asked if Ito will direct either FFXV or FFXVI, he laughed and replied that his answer would get him in trouble with Square Enix.
Source: This information was said to me in person.
Last edited: