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Kitase: Final Fantasy XIII took ‘a little too long’ to come out

Square’s Yoshinori Kitase has admitted that the developer took a little too long getting 2010 RPG Final Fantasy XIII out the door.

Speaking with GameReactor, Kitase said that Square needs to adopt a faster turnaround in regards to game development, pointing to the one-two year cycle that western companies typically employ with triple-A software.

“[For] the current generation console[s], Final Fantasy XIII was obviously the first game, and personally I think we took a little too long getting it out,” he said.

“When you think of Western triple A titles like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Assassin’s Creed, they seem to work with a lot shorter turnaround – they make a new game in one to two years. That is something we need to follow up, because that seems to be the best way to keep our fans interested and attracted to the franchise.”

Pleasingly, the developer went on to say that Square Enix has “learnt a lesson” from FFXIII’s lengthy production cycle, and as such the firm is pleased that the sequel is coming along pretty sharpish in comparison.

As for the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation, among which includes FFXIII and the elusive Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Kitase insisted the project is progressing smoothly.

“Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 [have] always been a part of it. And Final Fantasy Type 0 was released last month in Japan, and it seemed to be very well received. We’re happy about it,” he said.

“We obviously can’t talk about a western release. As far as Final Fantasy XIII Versus goes, we are working very hard on it. I think it’s going to be a great game, but we haven’t got updated information to release at this point.”

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is scheduled for release in the U.S. on January 31 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Europe gets the game in February, with Japan receiving the sequel next month.

via VG247