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The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu features an interview with Dissidia Final Fantasy producer Ichirou Hazama and director Takeo Kujiraoka, who spoke a bit about the console version of the arcade game and why it wasn’t at the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Opening Ceremony.

Hazama told Famitsu, “If we look at the most recent announcement opportunity, I was on stage at the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Opening Ceremony. And it [the game] did not appear. In short, we are currently unable to ready anything that has enough value to meet everyone’s expectations. Many users are expecting a story for the console version, which we are of course preparing. However, the focus of the game is battles and that has not changed. We will further enhance other elements as well, which will take a little bit more time.”

Kujiraoka added that since it’s not possible to deliver the game to everyone via the arcade version alone, they’re making preparations for that. He noted that there is incredible enthusiasm in the area of e-Sports overseas, and that there’s a possibility they might move in that direction.

“If we can export it to the world as a high-proficiency, competitive fighting tool, while also an enjoyable team battle Final Fantasy, it might even rise up as an e-Sports event,” Kujiraoka said. “If that happens, then next will be a global tournament, right? I can’t say too much, but I want to use these sorts of ambitions to make Dissidia Final Fantasy an even better game.”

In the interview’s closing message, Hazama mentioned the console version once again, assuring that it won’t impact the arcade version negatively.

“I want to spread the amount of enthusiasm for Dissidia Final Fantasy even more,” Hazama said. “In receiving the opinions of players, I get the feeling that people are becoming gradually more interested in the game, so I want to deliver it to even more people. While we’ll also be talking about the console version in the future, it won’t result in disappointing arcade users, as both can be sufficiently enjoyed. And there won’t be any delay in updates as a result the console version. We’re going to continue running at full speed and are taking on various challenges, so please support us this year as well!”

Elsewhere in the interview, Famitsu brought up the possibility of adapting Team Ninja’s “Soft Engine,” which is used in the Dead or Alive series, since Dissidia Final Fantasy is a Team Ninja-developed game. Hazama wondered if it was necessary with the current character lineup, leading Kujiraoka to jokingly suggest it may be useful for Final Fantasy IX antagonist Kuja’s butt. Both laughed before Hazama suggested that since they have the OK from Team Ninja lead Yosuke Hayashi, they’d use it if a suitable character ever appeared.

Dissidia Final Fantasy is currently available at Japanese arcades. The game itself runs on PlayStation 4 hardware. It currently has 21 playable characters and will continue to add new characters via updates.

Gematsu


Didnt even know they'd confirmed this til now