That includes Naoki Hamaguchi (game director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth), Tomoya Asano (producer of Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and more), and others. They join a list of executive officers that already includes the likes of Yoshinori Kitase and Naoki Yoshida.

As executive officers, developers within Square Enix hold greater authority in their divisions, and larger responsibilities to execute on the Board’s decisions. You can view the full list of Square Enix executive officers below (via Gematsu):

• Takashi Kiryu
• Tomoya Asano (New)
• Tomoyoshi Osaki
• Tsuneto Okuno
• Yoshinori Kitase
• Yosuke Saito
• Ryutaro Sasaki
• Hideaki Sato
• Takamasa Shiba (New)
• Hajime Seki
• Takeshi Nozue (New)
• Naoki Hamaguchi (New)
• Takayuki Hamada (New)
• Kei Hirono
• Katsuyoshi Matsuura
• Atsushi Matsuda
• Yuu Miyake
• Naoki Yoshida

The nature of such developments is unknown, but signs point towards a remaster of the first game. In October 2022, Asano said it would probably be “the best possible thing” for fans, though didn’t outright announce its development.

Bravely Default launched worldwide in 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS and initially intended to follow Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. It mostly garnered praise for its narrative and combat, though responses to its late-game stages were mixed overall. Check out our review here.

As for Bravely Default 2, it’s available for PC and Nintendo Switch, having crossed 1 million in worldwide shipments and digital sales worldwide in December 2022. Check out our review – we awarded it an 8 out of 10 for the combat mechanics, dungeon design, bosses and soundtrack. However, its graphical style may not be for everyone, and some quality-of-life features from previous games are missing.

＼デフォルト2 祝三周年！／
年末年始企画では多くのメッセージ、
ありがとうございましたm_ _m

今年はブレイブリーシリーズの動きもなんらかお伝えできるはずですので、どうぞご注目くださいませ
浅野P

(イラストは吉浦さんより)#ブレイブリーデフォルト2 は現在セールで50%オフ！※本日2/26まで pic.twitter.com/I1ahF6Abmh

— ブレイブリーデフォルトII公式 (@BDFF_OFFICIAL) February 25, 2024

Speaking during a recent livestream celebrating the series’ 10th anniversary (via Gematsu), Bravely Default creator and producer Tomoya Asano stated that he felt a remaster of the original title was in heavy demand and would likely be “the best possible thing” for fans, before adding that he’s unable to announce anything- “for now.”

“Over the past 10 years, our team has grown larger, and our capacity has increased,” Asano said. “Looking at the opening movie of [Bravely Default:] Flying Fairy, I feel like announcing a remaster of [Bravely Default:] Flying Fairy would be the best possible thing and something fans would desire. But for now I’m unfortunately unable to announce anything like that. ‘For now,’ let’s just say.”

A sequel to Bravely Default, Bravely Second: End Layer, launched for the 3DS in 2016 (2015 in Japan), but it remains to be seen whether it, too, will eventually be brought to modern platforms. Meanwhile, 2021 saw the launch of Bravely Default 2, which had sold over a million units as of the end of the year, and is currently available on PC and Nintendo Switch.

In September 2021, Tomoyo Asano also mentioned that Bravely Default 3 was in the planning stages and would require about 3-4 years of development.

Though the aesthetic most closely resembles Bravely Default 2, Brilliant Lights is an original story which sees several worlds throughout the series crossing over. Of course, along with familiar characters, players can also expect some new ones to also appear. The combat system has also been described as optimized for smartphones but more details have yet to be revealed.

Square Enix also confirmed in its press release that the Bravely Default series has crossed three million shipments and digital sales worldwide since the first game launched in 2012. A release window for Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights hasn’t been provided yet so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

If you’re a fan of the Bravely games on the 3DS from Square Enix, then you may be thrilled to know that there might be something new related to the series in the works- maybe. Some recent developments suggest that the Square Enix is teasing something related to the series.

The Twitter account for Bravely has tweeted a message of thanks regarding the 1 million units shipped for Octopath Traveler. Interestingly enough, though, the account also stated to “look forward” to the next game from Square Enix Business Division 11, which is the team behind Octopath, and was formed after its members previously successfully worked on the Bravely games.

It remains unclear whether this is regarding a new Bravely game, or just ports of the exiting games. Furthermore, the account’s name changed from ‘Bravely Second’ to ‘Bravely OOOOO’, and the profile picture changed as well. All of these changes points to the fact that they are teasing something related to the Bravely games. Additionally, here’s something else that’s interesting in a tweet by Octopath Traveler’s Twitter account, the shape of the image looks like the character Airy from Bravely (as pointed out by a user on ResetERA).

What would you like to see next related to the Bravely series? Let us know in the comments.

既報ですがー

＼オクトパス 100万 出荷／

ありがとうございます！

さてさて……⁉︎

今後ともスクエニ11BDのゲームにご注目下さいませm_ _m pic.twitter.com/4Y2Pj2CMq3

— ブレイブリーデフォルトII公式 (@BDFF_OFFICIAL) August 6, 2018

1,000,000 Travelers!
1,000,000 Thanks!

世界出荷＋DL数が100万本を突破しました！
……感謝感涙です。
皆さまの温かな応援、本当に本当にありがとうございます！これからもオクトパストラベラーをよろしくお願いいたします。(P)#オクトパストラベラー#OCTOPATHTRAVELER pic.twitter.com/Db2fEjID50

— オクトパストラベラーII公式 (OCTOPATH TRAVELER II) (@OCTOPATH_PR) August 3, 2018

Octopath Traveler is out tomorrow, and by all accounts, it will be a hell of a game, and a gorgeous, amazing throwback to classic 16- and 32-bit JRPGs that so many may remember as having defined the genre in the industry’s early years. But how did the game even happen? How did Square Enix, a company that has diluted its own brands over the last few years in an arguably misguided attempt to chase the western market, end up making a game like it at all?

Speaking to Eurogamer, producer Masashi Takahashi talked about how the game was born out of a realization, following the unexpected global success of the Nintendo 3DS exclusive Bravely Default, that Square didn’t need to make games catering to the west for them to do well in the west- they could just make the games they wanted to, as Japanese creators, and still see success worldwide.

“You might have noticed that at one point Square Enix tried to make games for the whole world – not just for the Japanese market,” Takahashi said. “We tried to make global games for everyone. On the opposite side, though, with Bravely Default – we really thought it’d just be for Japanese people. But when it was released, Nintendo got in touch and said many players outside of Japan would like to play the game. So what could we do? Together we released a game, even though at first we had no intention of selling it outside of Japan. Finally, it did well! The sales were good outside of Japan.

“That’s when I realised that we had no need to try and fit to the tendencies of western users. I discovered that, I’m Japanese, and with Octopath Traveler we just wanted to make a game we’d like ourselves, and if we like the game maybe western people would also play this game. When we started development of Octopath, we decided that it’d be a worldwide release. We didn’t put in any features for western gamers, though – we just created the game that we wanted to play as Japanese developers.”

The gambit seems to have paid off, and Octopath, loving homage to the heyday of JRPGs that it is, is apparently primed for success when it launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch tomorrow, on July 13. My only question is how Square forgot this all-important lesson, of creating the games they wanted to, not the ones they thought would bring them the most commercial success, in the first place.

Square Enix’s latest role-playing game Octopath Traveler is out tomorrow, and it’s not your typical major release, especially given its exclusivity to Nintendo Switch. Developed by Acquire and Square Enix’s Business Division 11 (of Bravely Default fame), Octopath Traveler features eight protagonists with their own differing playstyles, venturing out into the world. Its unique aesthetic, combat system and world-building are receiving plenty of praise ahead of its release.

Business Division 11 head has already teased that several other Switch titles were in development. However, co-producer Masashi Takahashi recently revealed to Eurogamer that the division wouldn’t just be working on Switch titles.

“As you may know at first the team was just the Bravely Default team, it was just a development team and not a division. But because the game did well and sold well we became a special division. Yes, we worked on Octopath Traveler and we’re working on Switch titles, but that doesn’t mean we’re only working on Switch titles,” said Takahashi.

Takahashi famously stated that Octopath Traveler wouldn’t have DLC, shipping as a complete experience out of the gate. Speaking in further detail, he said, “We really want the first concept we sell at full price to be 100 per cent of the game so there won’t be any DLC in the future. As for Octopath as a series, it depends on the sales – if the players like the game it could be an opportunity, yes. But it’s still not out yet, so we’ll see!”

What could be next for Takahashi and Business Division 11? Given his comments about Octopath Traveler being an evolution of the mechanics in Final Fantasy 6, would he consider going back to the Final Fantasy franchise at some point?

Not only does Takahashi address this but also talks about requests to remake Final Fantasy 6 for the current generation. “To tell the truth I’ve no intention and no wish to go back to the Final Fantasy franchise,” he said. “After my studio became a division, and Square told us to make new IPs, there’s no need and no intention to go back to Final Fantasy.

“A lot of people ask us to do a remake of Final Fantasy 6 with this kind of graphics. My role, though, is to make new ideas. I hope that people who enjoy RPGs will grow up with their kids, and be able to pass that on.”

Will you be playing Octopath Traveler? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Square Enix’s intriguing side-scrolling RPG Project Octopath Traveler will be releasing worldwide in 2018 for the Nintendo Switch. This was announced on the most recent Nintendo Direct along with new gameplay footage and details on the characters and setting. Check it out below.

Project Octopath Traveler, which is the working title for the game, features eight playable characters embarking on their own journeys. They each have their own abilities – Olberic the warrior can fight anyone in a duel while Primrose the dancer can charm people into following her – and unique stories.

The art-style is incredible, combining 3D graphics, CG, sprites and other graphical features. As for the gameplay, features like the combat system and Boost Point system have been outlined below.

Developed by the same team behind Bravely Default, Project Octopath Traveler’s demo is currently live on the Nintendo eShop. A survey will be released after the demo to gather feedback from players to refine the game further.

In case you needed another reason to purchase the Nintendo Switch, Square Enix’s Project Octopath Traveler is also inbound. A new trailer for the game, which appears to be a side-scrolling action RPG, was released and it features the talent of the Bravely Default team behind it.

On its new official Facebook page, producer Tomoya Asano said that, “It’s my pleasure to finally announce our newest project, the fully original role-playing game Octopath Traveler! While we can’t reveal any specific details quite yet (keep an eye out for promotional media in the near future), we’d like to share with you a behind-the-scenes look at the development process in the meantime.

“A long road lies ahead of us, but we hope that you’ll come along for the journey!”

Bravely series fans need not worry though – the page states that there will be updates on that franchise as well. “Here we’ll be sharing the latest information on our projects, including Octopath Traveler and the Bravely series.”

Thoughts? Let us know below.

Bravely Default is widely considered to be one of the best games in the Nintendo 3DS’s library, as well as one of the better showings from Square Enix and, indeed, the JRPG genre as a whole, in the last few years. And even while Bravely Second, the sequel to the original game, failed to live up to the high watermark set by the first, it was a reasonably fun and decent game.

One can therefore understand why fans may be excited or eager for a third game in the franchise. And in a recent tweet, the official Bravely Default account teased what may be a third Bravely game.

‘It’s Bravely‘s four-year anniversary! We apologize as news has been scant recently. There may be something soon….!?’ the tweet read (translation by Nintendo Life).

While a third Bravely game isn’t much of  stretch – the first two games were very successful, after all – the question of which system they will be on remains. Will they be for Nintendo’s NX? Or will they be aiming for a trifecta on the Nintendo 3DS?