150°

Square Enix Luminous Studio Interview

We find out what's up with Agni, the future of Final Fantasy and developing for hardware that doesn't exist yet.

Lord_Sloth5049d ago

This engine is freaking gorgeous!

AP5049d ago

The design of the characters and stuff is great too. Would love this to be a game.

colonel1795049d ago

That's what we all said when Final Fantasy Versus XIII was first shown (showcasing Crystal Engine). Six years later and the game still doesn't exist. Point being, I don't trust SE engines because they might never release a game that uses the engine potential.

AP5049d ago

Well, this engine is tech that will then be handed out, so we could see Tomb Raider or Deus Ex or something on it. Some of the tech in here is based off the Hitman engine. So I'll take that, even if SEJ can't release a game on time.

5049d ago
tigertron5049d ago

Difference is Versus was pure CGI, this is a tech demo rendered in real time.

Reibooi5049d ago (Edited 5049d ago )

@colonel179

As tigertron said when Versus was FIRST shown it wasn't the crystal tools engine that made people stand up and take notice. It was the very dark tone it had that was very different for a FF game. For the first year or 2 we didn't have anything aside from a CGI trailer and then we started to see the in game shots and yes they were gorgeous.

Crystal Tools had it's issues but it still looked great FFXIII was beautiful. Yeah it had it's issues but none of them were graphics.

There are many reasons Versus is taking so long. Nomura working on so many things at once, the development stopping for awhile to help finish FFXIII, the new use of parts of Luminous, the size and scope of the game.

Versus regardless of it's engine is a very ambitious game and with it's Director working on like 10 games at once it would make total since for it to take this long and that is before taking into consideration some of the other things I listed.

STONEY45049d ago (Edited 5049d ago )

Square Enix said that the Luminous Engine is going to be made available for all of their internal studios, so we could very easily see a Tomb Raider, Hitman, or Deus Ex game using the engine.

Parts of Luminous are already being used in FF Versus XIII. Crystal Tools is being permanently dumped.

GARBAGE LICKER5049d ago

woah where is this hour of in game footage, i need to see this haha, that game looks amazing

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5049d ago Replies(1)
Capt-FuzzyPants5049d ago

I'm really excited to see the games that use this. I'm excited that Versus is using this for the lighting and some of the graphics. Versus should look really good and the gameplay is similar to KH so that confirms it will be awesome.

Summons755049d ago

totally agree, not to mention they took a quote from Hamlet (one of my favorite Shakespeare plays) makes the story seem like it will be really dark which will be great

xtreampro5049d ago

Why are they always trying to appeal to the West? just do your own stuff and forget about them. What's with all this appealing to the West BS? Why only the West? how about making something appealing to the rest of the world and not just the Western audience.

This is why games are so crap nowadays.

DEATHxTHExKIDx5049d ago

Man if FFXV next gen looks like this gonna be epic anybody else excited?! VErsus is still up in the air but that use"s crystal tools, and part of the luminous studio.
ALL I can say is TGS we"ll see what happens.

130°

Metacritic's 2026 Game Publisher Rankings

Jason Dietz: "We reveal the past year's best and worst video game publishers (based on their 2025 releases) in the 16th edition of our annual Game Publisher Rankings."

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metacritic.com
Christopher30d ago

Take note, Sony, you're falling behind by a lot.

-Foxtrot30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

I was just going to say this, their biggest and top rated game here is TLOU2 for PC….it’s embarrassing.

Even Ubisoft and EA are ahead

Kind of surprised Nintendo is pretty low aswell, their biggest game is also a rerelease with the Switch 2 version of TotK.

StoneColdCrazy30d ago

That’s what happens when you start shutting down your own studios and forget what actually made you matter in the industry in the first place. Sony used to set the standard — now it feels like they’ve lost that identity. And if they decide to walk away from the PC market too, that’s going to be another huge mistake — that platform is only growing, and ignoring it now would just put them even further behind.

1Victor30d ago

@christopher:” Take note, Sony, you're falling behind by a lot.”
.
Why single out Sony? Microsoft didn’t do any better than the year before 5th same as Sony 9th and they have acquired activision and other mayor titles that have boosted their score massively from a 9th and Sony a 4th the year before the acquisitions.
Sony does need to do better without a doubt and I do hope they do take note but not the note of buying publishers is the way to succeed.

Christopher30d ago

1. Microsoft didn't get worse.
2. Sony got way worse.
3. Because Sony needs the criticism the most considering their publishing output this generation has been propped up by last gen ports and third-party developers for the most part.

30d ago
thesoftware73030d ago

1Victor,

I don't wanna speak for Christopher, but like most of us we recognize that Sony's output this Gen has been way below their own standards.

Also Sony did buy a fair amount of Devs, I know you will say they were not publishers, and don't compare in size, but they had their fair share of Aquisitions, including the very well established Bungie.

The overall point is with their stellar first party track record of the past, they should not be going down, they are singled out because they are some of the best videogame devs/publisher on the planet...no matter what reasons we attribute to the situation, they are moving in the wrong direction... period.

30d ago
KyRo29d ago

Its widely accept that Sony this generation has been underwhelming. We've had more peripheral releases, controller variants, PS5 accessories than games it feels like. The exclusives were also PS4 and what little output they have put exclusively on PS5 is nowhere near as memorable as what came in every generation before that.

This isn't a Sony hate post but anyone who's older and has been around for a long time gaming will agree that PS5 is by far Sony's worst generation. As much as Xbox is in the gutter, I pray the do bounce back in the hope we get Sony to wake up again.

darthv7229d ago (Edited 29d ago )

If you want to critique MS... you are doing so towards their management. The games output and their hardware have been much better than PS this gen. Sadly... people still hold a grudge against XB because of MS. Thankfully i am not that petty... I've been enjoying their games output in the drought of PS. And add in some NS1/2 games as well to balance things out. Things will change for me once Wolverine hits, and I start using my 5 more. That one I'm looking forward to. And the Marvel fighter... I'm not a GTA player so that has no bearing on my view of things.

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Profchaos30d ago

Big part of that has been the live service push resulting in cancellation or flop after flop but when they put out the games their fans want we get amazing stuff like astro bot

Leadership really screwed the pooch trend chasing

1Victor30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

https://www.metacritic.com/...

https://www.metacritic.com/...
Well I apologize I was wrong about not doing worse but my statement of Microsoft getting a boost still stand 🤷🏿

30d ago
1Victor30d ago

Well OBSCURED unlike you I’m honorable enough to recognize when I’m wrong and apologize.
.
@ The software you know there’s no comparison between what Microsoft acquired and what Sony acquired that’s why you tried to get ahead of the conversation, yes we all know Sony can do better than what they have done this gen but they inhaled the poison GAS they thought would bring money for years but we make sure they got the message and quite a few games got cancelled you know as well a hit like that take years to be corrected and by now they hopefully will have taken steps away from the GAS and slowed their approach to them.

bsingle4030d ago

You will say anything when you are in denial that your hardware is dead and nobody wants your platform. Good luck with Helix because nobody will buy it.

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SimulationDaily30d ago

But... but... the garbage-mongers always tell us that Square Enix is in trouble! 😂

Christopher30d ago

Square doesn't help that it fear mongers itself with ridiculous 'goals' that they can't reach and then they proclaim failure if they don't reach it. They're quite freaking profitable and people act like they're dying.

SimulationDaily30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

Keep in mind that these "proclamations" are usually third-hand bad translations from somedude who was at the investor conference, posted on Twitter, and picked up by press and youtubers like they were gold, and then when the official translation comes out, they're much softer statements, but at that point, the damage is done.

gold_drake30d ago

to be very fair

being number one on these things does not indicate how "well" their games do selling wise.

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40°

Square Enix Reports Lower Sales but Growing Profits in Financial Results

Square Enix announced its financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year, related to the period between April and December 2025.

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simulationdaily.com
100°

Shareholder denounces Square Enix's 'sluggish' revenue and profit

3D Investment Partners, a major shareholder of Square Enix, issued a 112-page presentation criticizing the company's 'sluggish' revenue and profit margins.

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gamedeveloper.com
135d ago
SimpleDad135d ago

Basically, their presentation says: Go Woke, Go broke.
Sorry fellow N4gamers.

Alos88135d ago

Or, alternatively, don't cut Switch and Steam out of your biggest releases day one.

360ICE134d ago

If your response to a 112 page presentation from a profit-maximizing investment fund about the need for corporate restructuring (i.e. layoffs), integrating non-gaming (i.e. sell merch or build a theme park) and other corporate initiatives, is that it's about "go woke, go broke", then it's because you've lost the ability to think in any terms. Awful way to live your life. Private equity is destroying the games industry while you obsess that Square made a cringe game everyone thinks is cringe in 2023. Time to move on.

gold_drake135d ago

i mean .. we've been saying this for years.

franwex135d ago

Oh darn. Maybe games with NFTs can fixed that!

Soy135d ago

Waaah waaah our profits aren't big enough! I mean, they're still growing and all, but we want it faster and NOW! Waaaah!

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