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It seems like this console generation has lasted forever, and that’s partly because it has. The Xbox 360 is now almost six years old, while the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii are almost five. We know that Sony built the PS3 to have a ten year lifespan, and it looks like the Xbox 360 will have something similar, with recent rumors tipping the next Xbox sometime in 2015. Similarly, it is expected that Nintendo might announce a new version of its Wii console later this year to keep pace with peripherals like the Kinect and PlayStation Move.
Five years from now, though? It’s reasonable to expect that we’ll all be playing brand new consoles… and new consoles require launch games. That’s why Square Enix is already planning on opening a huge studio in Canada next year, specifically to work on developing games for next-gen consoles.
It’s unknown if Square-Enix has an inside tip on the next generation of consoles, although given how popular games like the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series are, we wouldn’t be surprised. Even if they don’t have a tip on the hardware being used, though, it’s pretty clear that Square-Enix will need to get a head start on the next gen if they want to have titles available for the Xbox 720 or PlayStation 4 for launch.
After all, considering how much time and money needs to go into making modern consoles games, game development budgets and time tables are only going to rise by the time future consoles roll out. For example, Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been in development for five years now, and it’s still not out. Even if they build a studio next year, Square-Enix may very well not be able to put together a truly next-gen game for 2015.
