Bandai Namco’s Tales franchise was down in the doldrums for a while there, but last year’s Tales of Arise brought it kicking and screaming back to life. The action RPG has enjoyed its fair share of critical and commercial success since then- and it seems Bandai Namco isn’t quite ready to fully move on from it yet.
The Japanese company has filed a trademark registration for Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), though obviously, the filing itself doesn’t have any explicit details on what exactly that name will be used for. There is, however, plenty of speculation on that, to no one’s surprise.
Most people’s first guess would be that Bandai Namco is working on an expansion for the action RPG, though the Tales series hasn’t really dabbled too much in story DLC in the past, which means it may very well be a direct sequel. Interestingly, however, Tales of Arise producer Yusuke Tomiwaza said earlier this year that Bandai Namco had no plans for direct sequel or an expansion, which means that, unless plans have changed, that’s probably not on the table.
What else could it be then? A port for the Nintendo Switch? A spinoff developed for mobile devices? An anime adaptation? Either way, hopefully, we’ll have more clarity on the matter sooner rather than later. The Game Awards tomorrow could possibly e worth keeping an eye on for Tales fans.
In our review of Tales of Arise, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Tales of Arise is a well-made, consistently enjoyable JRPG, and though its storytelling tends to be sloppy, its gorgeous world and excellent combat are more than enough to keep you hooked until the end.” Read the full review through here.
Tales of Arise is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. As of April this year, it has sold over 2 million units worldwide.