Eidos-developed Final Fantasy is a possibility, says Lightning Returns director

A Final Fantasy title by Deus Ex and Thief developer Eidos has been the subject of internal discussion at Square Enix, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 game design director Yuji Abe told OXM.

Traditionally the Final Fantasy series has been developed within the company's Japanese branch. But after acquiring several international studios, a western-developed entry is not out of the question, Abe said.

"Obviously, Square Enix bought out Eidos a number of years ago, and now we have direct access to American development teams," Abe said. "That's certainly been discussed within the company, the possibility of say, Eidos or maybe someone else to look after or maybe take on the Final Fantasy series.

"And we obviously haven't decided anything concrete, but if we find the right team of developers, the right people who really wanted to do it, and we had the right game, then yes, certainly we'd think about it," he added.

Director Motomu Toriyama added that each Final Fantasy title is its own unique game — with the exception the 10 sequel and 13 trilogy — which means the development team is always in constant flux. Moving development to a western studio and essentially a new team is just part of the formula, a real possibility, he said.

"The whole thing about the Final Fantasy series is that for every iteration, for every game we do, we have a very different game," Toriyama said. "So the development team is also different every time, so that there's different ideas and different concepts driving it. So obviously within that framework, having a very different type of team could work. So if we got the right team of people, it could produce something very interesting in the end."