Final Fantasy Versus XIII was originally a game planned for the PlayStation 3 as part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy series. It was intended to be a companion game to Final Fantasy XIII alongside the mobile game Final Fantasy Agito XIII (later retitled Final Fantasy Type-0), the three sharing from the same Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos. Bearing many originating themes carried on into its succeeding game, the theme of Versus XIII was "a fantasy based on reality", and the game was to take place in a setting similar to contemporary Earth.
Many problems occurred during its very long development stage including but not limited to : A game engine that was very difficult for programmers to work with, its staff and director constantly being pulled to work on other games, and terrible management within Square Enix, all contributed to Versus XIII's cancellation.
Why it was Cancelled[]
- The game was constantly being put on hold because of Final Fantasy XIII. Problems with the Crystal Tools engine forced Square Enix to pull staff from Versus XIII to help with the development and release the game on schedule. As of result, Versus XIII was stuck in pre-production hell for years. It did not officially start any type of development until early 2010. (This information was never released to the public, however).
- The critical and commercial failure of the original version of Final Fantasy XIV caused Square Enix to, again, pull staff from Versus XIII to help rebuild XIV from scratch. Because of this, the game was further delayed.
- In July 2012, Square Enix held secret talks and concluded that because the seventh generation was about to end, they ordered Final Fantasy Versus XIII to be made in the next-generation of consoles, including rebranding it as Final Fantasy XV. Then-CEO Yoichi Wada ordered the Type-0 staff to assist in the development with Hajime Tabata as co-director. The game was officially rebranded at E3 2013.
References[]
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/932981-final-fantasy-xv/74709293